Shortly after Republicans won control of the House last November, then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called on Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to resign. If he refused, the GOP leader threatened to investigate Mayorkas for his failure at the border and, if need be, open an impeachment inquiry.
Now eight months into the GOP majority in the House, the desire to impeach Mayorkas is being overshadowed by a more pressing desire to impeach his boss, President Joe Biden.
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"He has very obviously failed in his core mission of securing our border and our homeland, and he well deserves to lose his job," Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), vice chairman of the Republican Conference, said of Mayorkas. "However, due to our limited time and resources, we have no choice but to focus our primary attention on further uncovering the crimes of President Biden and his family."
Since Republicans took the reins in January, the House GOP has opened an investigation into Mayorkas and has so far released two interim reports detailing what lawmakers allege is a “dereliction of duty” that has caused a crisis at the border.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced impeachment legislation earlier this year to remove the border official from office, but more recently, she has used her political firepower to call for the impeachment of Biden, whom she's dubbed the "criminal in chief."
"He [Mayorkas] should have already been impeached," Greene told the Washington Examiner. "The entire country doesn’t understand why he hasn’t been impeached already. The Biden administration has ripped our border wide open and is letting an invasion happen."
To further push the Biden impeachment, Greene initially signaled that her support for funding the federal government beyond Sept. 30 was tied to a vote on the president's impeachment inquiry, but she has since softened her timeline a bit.
While no formal move has been made on the Mayorkas impeachment front, a source familiar told the Washington Examiner that members of the Homeland Security Committee are amid a five-step plan to impeach Mayorkas — although the status of those efforts is not entirely clear.
It appears to some GOP members that Mayorkas’s impeachment may never happen at all, especially as there has been very little talk about it from House Republican leadership since the investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings has unveiled more documents related to his father, including an FD-1023 FBI form that alleged a bribery scheme with the then-vice president.
Johnson referenced the findings from the House Judiciary, Oversight, and Ways and Means committees, claiming they amount to the "most serious political scandal in the history of our country" and under the articles of the Constitution, they "have no choice but to follow the evidence where it leads."
Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-TX), chairman of the House Budget Committee, argued that even if the House managed to impeach Mayorkas, the move would do little to affect the Biden administration’s influence. So, he would prefer to go after the one in charge.
“[Mayorkas] hasn't done his job, and he's under the direction of our commander in chief,” Arrington told the Chad Hasty Show on KFYO Newstalk last month. “I mean, I would argue it's really Biden at the end of the day, Biden's calling the shots, Biden is the one that's not enforcing the laws, Biden's the one that's dismantled all of the effective programs and policies ... that President Trump set up that were working.”
Before the House broke for recess at the end of July, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) skirted questions on whether a Biden impeachment inquiry would replace additional calls to impeach Cabinet members such as Mayorkas. However, he noted that committees are already doing the investigative work without an impeachment inquiry.
“Multiple committees are dealing with multiple inquiries, and inquiries are not in and of itself an impeachment,” he said. “It's just an ability to get more information that the Biden administration is trying to block the American people from seeing.”
However, others are displeased with what they view as a failure by McCarthy to impeach Mayorkas.
“Speaker McCarthy said that if he became speaker, we would impeach Mayorkas,” Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) told the Washington Examiner. “Haven't heard anything about that since he became speaker.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) brought up in July his displeasure with how McCarthy hadn’t yet brought up an impeachment inquiry into Mayorkas despite his previous threats to do so. And it isn’t just Good and Gaetz — other hard-line conservatives are upset the speaker has yet to follow through on those commitments.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA), chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement, told the Washington Examiner in a statement that he supports impeaching both Biden and Mayorkas, arguing that the decision shouldn’t be driven by convenience.
“The impeachment of a sitting president and a secretary-level executive is a somber affair and should 100% stand on deep core principle,” Higgins said. “Biden should be impeached because he is a compromised president who has illegally received millions from corrupt foreign nationals, and Mayorkas should be impeached because he willfully and purposely violated the law and facilitated cartel trafficking of drugs and human beings into America.”
Other Republicans echoed that sentiment, arguing all Biden administration officials should be held accountable rather than just focusing on the biggest political figure.
“The fact is, Republicans need to walk and chew gum at the same time. It is perfectly fitting and proper for various committees of jurisdiction to investigate the failures and malfeasance of officials serving in or connected to the Biden administration simultaneously,” said Rep. Mark Green (R-TN). “In Secretary Mayorkas’ case, it appears clear based on our ongoing investigation that he has been derelict in his duty, having failed to uphold his oath of office, enforce the laws of the United States, and secure the border … We are going to continue gathering the facts, holding hearings, and presenting the truth to the American people.”
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Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) said he does not believe an impeachment inquiry into Mayorkas has fallen to the wayside in light of the push to impeach Biden. And, while Mayorkas might be a separate issue, he still believes an inquiry into him "should be pursued as well."
The behind-the-scenes conversations come as the House is set to return to Washington, D.C., on Tuesday with a looming government shutdown over 2024 appropriations on the horizon as lawmakers focus on the budget in the coming weeks.