Serious defeat for Trump
US Republicans fail with impeachment plan
February 7, 2024, 2:55 a.m
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Trump wants to score points in the US presidential election with the issue of migration. However, a motion to impeach the Democratic Secretary of Homeland Security fails in the House of Representatives. Even though the Republicans have the majority there.
In the dispute over border policy, the opposition US Republicans have failed in their controversial attempt to initiate impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In the House of Representatives, a corresponding motion from the Conservatives narrowly missed the necessary majority with 214 votes to 216. It is a serious defeat for the Republicans, who make up the majority in the chamber of Congress – and a victory for President Joe Biden’s Democrats.
Democrats had condemned Republican efforts to impeach Mayorkas as politically motivated. The approach was also not without controversy among the Republicans – several conservative MPs therefore voted against the so-called impeachment. Many legal experts are of the opinion that the conditions for impeachment proceedings against the minister responsible for border protection do not exist. Republicans accuse Mayorkas of “deliberately” creating a crisis at the US border with Mexico through “gross incompetence” and a “year-long refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress.” The Secretary of Homeland Security is also said to have lied to Congress.
If the Republicans had won the vote in the House of Representatives, it would have been the first impeachment trial of a US minister since 1876. In any case, Mayorkas’ impeachment was considered impossible: the Democrats are in the majority in the Senate, where the impeachment trial would have taken place. The two-thirds majority necessary for removal would never have been met in the upper house.
Migration is an election campaign issue
Border protection and immigration policy are among the most hotly contested domestic policy issues in the United States – and are also an important election issue. The arrival of numerous refugees and migrants, especially from South and Central America, at the border between Mexico and the USA has been posing huge challenges for the US authorities for years. The Republicans accuse Biden and his Democrats of allowing hundreds of thousands of foreigners to enter the country irregularly.
Most recently, both parties argued over a legislative package that would expand border protection and at the same time release billions of dollars in new aid to Ukraine. Democratic and Republican senators worked together on a corresponding proposal, but the Republicans have since turned away from the reform plan.
The reason is apparently the rejection by former President Donald Trump, who wants to win back the White House in the presidential election in November – and wants to use border policy in the election campaign. The right-wing populist has openly spoken out against the reform package, putting pressure on his Republican parliamentarians to let it fail.