Principles matter: Republicans should follow the Constitution and not impeach Mayorkas

In December 2019, I voted with all of my Republican colleagues against the first impeachment of President Donald Trump. Just over a year later, I voted against another failed impeachment effort of President Trump. Why? Because I didn’t believe that his actions rose to the level of an impeachable offense. 

Today, I find myself in a similar but also different situation. My House Republican colleagues are on the precipice of impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The charges? Completely failing in his job to secure the southern border. 

To be clear, Secretary Mayorkas has completely failed at his job. He is incompetent. He is an embarrassment. And he will most likely be remembered as the worst secretary of Homeland Security in the history of the United States. 

However, the Constitution is clear that impeachment is reserved for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Maladministration or incompetence does not rise to what our founders considered an impeachable offense. 

Partisan impeachments that do not meet the constitutional standard will boomerang back and hurt Republicans in the future. I can envision a future Republican administration where a Democrat-led House uses this precedent to act against a Republican Cabinet member who isn’t discharging their duties in a way that Democrats desire.

In effect, we are now doing what we rightfully said House Democrats were doing in 2019 and 2021: pushing a partisan impeachment not based on what the Constitution actually states. 

Jonathan Turley, a respected legal scholar, stated last week that “being a bad Cabinet member or even a bad person” isn’t impeachable. In fact, weaponizing impeachment undermines both the Constitution and the seriousness that an impeachment ought to have. 

Likewise, Alan Dershowitz, the lawyer who represented President Trump in his first impeachment trial, recently wrote an op-ed in which he stated that House Republicans are targeting Secretary Mayorkas for the same “vague and unconstitutional” grounds wrongly used against President Trump.

The failed policies and decisions that Secretary Mayorkas has made these past few years clearly reflect the views and policies of President Biden and his administration. If Mayorkas were to be removed from office, it’s likely that President Biden would appoint another incompetent individual who would carry out this same failed approach. 

Most Americans learned about the presidential impeachments that have occurred, but few can name the only presidential Cabinet officer who was impeached. Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached by the House in 1876 for his involvement in taking kickbacks from an army post in Oklahoma. As secretary of War, Belknap had full control of licenses granted to these outposts and “traderships” and in turn created a criminal association with a trader to keep his outpost. Secretary Belknap’s wife then took a cut of the payments. After debate, the Senate ultimately decided to acquit then private citizen Belknap.

While there have been many other impeachment resolutions introduced throughout our history, Secretary Belknap remains the only Cabinet secretary actually impeached by the House. The point being that there have certainly been other inept, blundering Cabinet officials since Secretary Belknap who weren’t removed via an unconstitutional impeachment.

The failure of the Biden administration to rein in an open border is a national disgrace and will be a stain on his presidential legacy. However, the truth is that this is a policy disagreement masked as an impeachment. Moreover, Secretary Mayorkas will not be convicted in a Democrat-led Senate.

Principles matter and we can’t have double standards for impeachments based on which party controls the White House. It was wrong when House Democrats impeached President Trump in 2019 and 2021, and it’ll be wrong when Republicans impeach Secretary Mayorkas in 2024. 

The Constitution is clear. I will be voting no on the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas. 

Ken Buck represents Colorado’s 4th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee and House Foreign Affairs Committee.