Evening Report — House to vote on Mayorkas impeachment

by Amee LaTour - 02/06/24 5:10 PM ET

Evening Report

House set to vote on Mayorkas impeachment

The House is preparing to vote Tuesday evening on impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

It marks the culmination of months of attacks from GOP lawmakers against the Biden Cabinet official, whom they blame for the administration’s broader handling of border issues.

House Republicans have a slim majority to advance the impeachment articles and can’t afford one more defection, assuming all Democrats vote and oppose the measures.

GOP Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.) and Tom McClintock (Calif.) have said they’ll vote against the effort.

The tight margin is another example of how the GOP’s slim majority is making life difficult for House Republicans, The Hill’s Emily Brooks, Mychael Schnell and Rebecca Beitsch report.

Refresher:

The impeachment resolution accuses Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” regarding immigration and charges him with “breach of public trust.”
Impeachment opponents, including Mayorkas himself, have said impeachment enthusiasts have border policy disagreements with the administration but no constitutional basis for impeaching Mayorkas.
If the House impeaches Mayorkas, the Senate would then hold a trial. But members of both parties acknowledge such an effort — which would require two-thirds support — would go nowhere in the Senate.

Also possible today:

The House may also consider whether to move forward with the GOP’s stand-alone Israel aid bill as a larger package including aid to Ukraine, humanitarian assistance to Gaza, border funding and more seems unlikely to get anywhere.

Learn more about headwinds the standalone Israel aid bill faces here.

And follow The Hill’s live blog for updates.

Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Amee LaTour, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here.

CATCH UP QUICK

Former President Trump‘s immunity challenge to his election subversion case is likely headed to the Supreme Court after a federal appeals panel rejected his claim.
Qatar’s prime minister says he’s “optimistic” after receiving a response from Hamas to a proposed agreement for releasing Israeli hostages and pausing fighting in Gaza.
Former Fox News pundit Tucker Carlson confirmed he secured an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Hill’s Dominick Mastrangelo noted it’ll be “the first time a member of the Western media will interview Putin since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.”

NEW THIS AFTERNOON

Border bill dispute reups calls for Senate GOP shakeup

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a longtime critic of Sen. Mitch McConnell‘s (R-Ky.) leadership of the Republican conference, renewed his call for McConnell’s replacement amid widespread opposition to a bill that would include a border deal and aid to Ukraine.

“I think a Republican leader should actually lead this conference and should advance the priorities of Republicans,” Cruz said at a press conference Tuesday with several other Republican senators.

Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance (R) said at the event, “I want to echo everything that Ted has said. I think all of us has made this argument: The leadership really screwed this up.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also called for a new Republican leader on Sunday.

campaign

Nevada’s wonky primary week

Nevada is holding an unusual presidential primary Tuesday, with only one of the two major Republican candidates — Nikki Haley — on the ballot.

A new state law calls for presidential primaries, but the state GOP chose to go ahead with caucuses anyway, meaning there’ll be two Republican nominating contests. Haley chose Tuesday’s primary, while former President Trump is running in the caucuses on Thursday.
The party specified delegates are only available to caucus participants, so Haley won’t get any. Her biggest competition on Tuesday is “none of these candidates,” a ballot option that could get a plurality of votes if enough Trump supporters turn out for the primary. Registered Republicans can participate in both the primary and the caucuses.

The Hill’s Julia Mueller has more here.

Note: Nevada’s Democratic primary is also Tuesday.

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