(The Center Square) – Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher is not backing away from being one of the decisive votes against the impeachment of the nation’s Homeland Security secretary.
Late Tuesday, Gallagher joined two other Republicans to stop the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“President Biden has created a disaster at our southern border. In his first 100 days in office, Mr. Biden halted border-wall construction, ended President Trump’s successful Remain in Mexico policy, and implemented a catch-and-release regime” Gallagher said in an op-ed he penned for the Wall Street Journal. “Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is faithfully implementing the president’s ruinous policies, which are contributing to immense human suffering, placing a massive financial burden on states and cities, and threatening our national security. His performance has been a disgrace.”
But Gallagher argued impeaching Mayorkas wouldn’t stop the crisis at the southern border.
In fact, Gallagher argued impeaching Mayorkas could lead to more problems in the future.
“Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle, wouldn’t secure the border or hold President Biden accountable. It would only further pry open the Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment,” he wrote.
He added “the proponents of impeachment failed to make the argument as to how his stunning incompetence meets the impeachment threshold Republicans outlined while defending former President Trump.”
California’s Tom McClintock and Colorado’s Ken Buck also voted against Mayorkas’ impeachment.
Wisconsin Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, who voted to impeach Mayorkas, defended his vote by saying Mayorkas clearly lied to Congress and the American people.
“[Mayorkas] has willfully and systemically refused to comply with federal immigration laws,” Tiffany said. “He has implemented a mass catch-and-release scheme and misused parole authority.”
Republican Congressman Scott Fitzgerald said pretty much the same thing.
“Secretary Mayorkas has completely breached public trust. You need not look any further than his flip-flopping under oath at Congressional hearings about the operational control of the border,” Fitzgerald said. “This vote was not taken hastily but follows a nearly year-long investigation by the House Homeland Security Committee into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented border crisis.”
Wisconsin’s two Democratic members of Congress, Milwaukee’s Gwen Moore and Madison’s Mark Pocan, both voted against Mayorkas’ impeachment.
