--- title: Mayorkas Escapes Historic Impeachment Vote description: In a dramatic embarrassment for Republicans, the House narrowly voted against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. canonical: https://time.com/6692153/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-fails-republicans/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-07T00:01:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T11:40:18.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Mayorkas Escapes Historic Impeachment Vote og:description: In a dramatic embarrassment for Republicans, the House narrowly voted against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. og:url: https://time.com/6692153/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-fails-republicans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63d0e0cb14662226/698a48509d83e81016b9892d/GettyImages-1918132905.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Holds Media Availability In Eagle Pass, Texas og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mayorkas Escapes Historic Impeachment Vote twitter:description: In a dramatic embarrassment for Republicans, the House narrowly voted against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63d0e0cb14662226/698a48509d83e81016b9892d/GettyImages-1918132905.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Mayorkas Escapes Historic Impeachment Vote in Major Setback for House GOP > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0c3cdf6-04cb-4283-be89-cc69e162cda8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Senate Dismisses Mayorkas Impeachment Articles as Unconstitutional [Watch (HLS stream): Senate Dismisses Mayorkas Impeachment Articles as Unconstitutional](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/px7TDM7p.m3u8) (3:17)  _Published 2024-04-18. The Senate clash over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lasted less than three hours as Democrats moved quickly on Wednesday to dismiss the charges as unconstitutional._  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jan 19, 2026 11:40 AM UTCPublished: Feb 7, 2024 12:01 AM UTC The Senate clash over the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas lasted less than three hours as Democrats moved quickly on Wednesday to dismiss the charges as unconstitutional.  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Updated: Jan 19, 2026 11:40 AM UTCPublished: Feb 7, 2024 12:01 AM UTC In a dramatic embarrassment for Republicans, the House on Tuesday narrowly rejected impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the southern border after a small group of Republicans broke with their party. The deeply partisan effort charged Mayorkas with failing to properly enforce the nation’s immigration laws amid a record surge of immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border and breaching the public’s trust. But [constitutional scholars](https://time.com/6554103/mayorkas-impeachment-hearing-criticized/) warned that the evidence amounted to a policy dispute that does not reach the high bar of impeachment and could degrade the seriousness of the impeachment process. In the end, four Republicans and all Democrats voted against impeachment. It was a stunning scene on the House floor, as Republicans kept the vote open for several minutes as Democrats cheered. Rep. Tom McClintock, a California Republican who voted against the effort, criticized his party for “bad politics and bad policy” in a statement on Tuesday. "The problem is that they fail to identify an impeachable crime that Mayorkas has committed," McClintock wrote. "In effect, they stretch and distort the Constitution in order to hold the administration accountable for stretching and distorting the law." He also warned that impeaching Mayorkas would set a precedent for future impeachment efforts against Republican cabinet members. Most Republicans pushed ahead anyway, vowing to hold the Biden Administration accountable for what they perceive as a failure in managing migrant crossings and enforcing immigration laws. In hearings, they [alleged](https://time.com/6590641/alejandro-mayorkas-impeachment-house-gop/) that Mayorkas disregarded laws passed by Congress, ignored court orders, knowingly making false statements about the U.S.-Mexico border, and allowed the surge of migration by ending several Trump-era immigration policies. Mayorkas pushed back against these claims in a letter to the House committee investigating him on Jan. 30, noting his efforts to increase deportation flights, upgrade technology used to detect fentanyl, and restrict asylum access for migrants who bypass legal pathways to the U.S. “Undoubtedly, we have policy disagreements on the historically divisive issue of immigration," Mayorkas said. "That has been the case between Administrations and Members of Congress for much longer than the past 38 years since the last overhaul of our immigration system." The border has become a partisan battleground in recent months. The number of illegal border crossings have hit record-highs, with Border Patrol agents arresting 250,000 migrants caught crossing the border in December, up 31% from November. “I don’t believe there’s ever been a Cabinet secretary who so blatantly, openly, willfully and without remorse did the exact opposite of what federal law asked him to do,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, said Tuesday. “There is no other measure for Congress to take but this one.” The fact that the impeachment failed in the House is a major defeat for Johnson, who had promised his far-right flank that he would make Mayorkas the first impeached Cabinet official [in nearly 150 years](https://time.com/6691749/impeachment-mayorkas-cabinet-member-history/). After Tuesday’s vote, Johnson said the House GOP would try again to impeach Mayorkas when they corral enough votes. The failed impeachment vote comes as Republicans have also threatened to tank the Senate’s bipartisan border security bill, with Johnson describing it as “dead on arrival” in the House. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden blamed former President Donald Trump for being behind the effort to kill the border bill on the Senate floor after he urged Republicans to refuse to help the Biden Administration address the border situation. “He’d rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it,” [Biden said](https://time.com/6692066/biden-republicans-border-bill-trump/). ## Transcript [00:00] I will ask unanimous consent to allow for debate time. [00:05] to allow for Republicans to offer and have votes on trial resolutions [00:10] and allow for Republicans to offer and have votes on points [00:14] of order never before in the history of our Republic has the [00:19] Senate dismissed or tabled articles of impeachment when the impeached [00:22] individual was alive and had not resigned and we find ourselves [00:26] in the awkward position because we're in impeachment [00:31] proceedings are being able [00:34] unable to discuss in public [00:37] on the merits of the senator Schumer has claimed and at the same [00:41] time my Democratic friends have refused to go into closed session [00:47] so we can discuss the majority Leader's position [00:50] is asking members of the Senate to vote on political expediency [00:55] to avoid listening to arguments. [00:58] The only rational way to resolve this question is actually [01:01] debated to consider the Constitution and consider the law. [01:04] We gave your side a chance for debate in public where it should [01:10] be and your side of ejected. [01:12] We are moving forward or college know that we are obligated [01:17] to take these proceedings seriously. [01:21] This is what our old prescribes it's what the history and precedent [01:25] require and I would urge each of our colleagues to consider [01:30] that this is what the framers actually and bigger. [01:34] On this phone at the age of 51 the Nazar 48:1 Senator responded [01:40] present. The point of order is well taken and the article [01:44] Falls is recognized. [01:47] I raised a point of order that impeachment Article 2 does not [01:52] allege conduct that rises to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor [01:55] as required under Article 2 Section 4 of the United States [02:00] Constitution and is therefore unconstitutional are 49. [02:08] The point of order is well-taken article article to Falls resident [02:14] move to adjourn the impeachment trial of Alejandro in New York [02:20] has seen a guy and I asked for the gays an ace. [02:23] Is there a sufficient second there is a sufficient second [02:27] clerk will call the roll. [02:29] On this phone via Sr. [02:31] 51 the Nazar 49th. [02:33] The motion is too greedy to the Senate sitting as a court of impeachment [02:36] stands adjourned sine die. [02:39] This means that the Senate. [02:43] Can ignore an effect the house is impeachment. [02:48] It doesn't make any difference with our friends on the other [02:50] side. Thought he should have been impeached or not. [02:54] you are [02:56] and by doing what we just did. [02:59] We have an effect ignored. [03:03] The directions of the house, which word I have a trial. [03:09] No evidence. No procedure. [03:12] This is a day that's not a proud day. 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