OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:37 PM – Friday, January 26, 2024
In a recent letter, House Speaker Mike Johnson declared that the House will soon vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and warned that the emerging border deal is “dead on arrival” in his chamber if it looks anything like what has already been reported.
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However, negotiators caution that the package leaks have not been reliable.
Johnson’s (R-La.) warning on Friday highlights the huge obstacle that senators must overcome in order to adopt a significant national security package that includes funding for both Israel and Ukraine, even if the Senate accord has not yet been made public.
Despite the fact that HR 2, the House GOP’s immigration measure, has “little chance of passing,” Johnson reaffirmed the demands for its passage.
“I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway,” Johnson wrote.
Johnson announced that the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas will be considered by the House Homeland Security Committee next week and that “a vote on the floor will be held as soon as possible thereafter.”
Johnson’s action comes as former President Donald Trump has re-entered the immigration debate on Capitol Hill and as Johnson has continued to urge President Joe Biden to utilize his executive authority to enforce stricter border security measures.
“Many of our constituents have asked an important question ‘what is the point of negotiating new laws with an administration that will not enforce the laws already on the books?” Johnson wrote. “If President Biden wants us to believe he is serious about protecting our national sovereignty, he needs to demonstrate his good faith by taking immediate actions to secure it. He should sign an order right now to end the mass release of illegals and dangerous persons into our country.”
The statement was made in response to Senate leaders’ suggestion that the measure text would be made public as early as next week. It also draws attention to a significant divide between the House Speaker and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has spent the past six months arguing that the GOP should better support Ukraine in its ongoing conflict with Russia.
45th President Donald Trump responded to the news.
“A Border Deal now would be another Gift to the Radical Left Democrats. They need it politically, but don’t care about our Border,” Trump said in a statement on Thursday. “What is currently being worked on in the Senate will be meaningless in terms of Border Security and Closure.”
“If you want to have a really Secure Border, your ONLY HOPE is to vote for TRUMP2024,” he added.
Leaders in the Senate claim that the bill’s text with the terms of the developing agreement is almost ready to be released by border negotiators. This will be a crucial test to determine if the deal can secure the necessary GOP votes to pass.
“Soon. Hopefully soon,” said Republican Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) after being asked when the text would be released.
As of last week, discussions had not yet reached a consensus on how to finance measures aimed at increasing deterrents for illegal migrants and asylum seekers and expanding the authority of the administration to expel them. The GOP leadership also stated that much more is needed to be done to resolve the parole problem, which has continued to be a major source of disagreement in the negotiations.
Additionally, beyond reaching an agreement, there is a crucial concern regarding whether the measure can muster a sufficient coalition of Republican votes in the Senate to exert pressure on the House to act and undo what seems to be a hardening stance by that chamber’s leaders.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are pressing to remove Mayorkas from office.
Mayorkas was a key player in the bipartisan border negotiations on Capitol Hill, but at the time, he was only there to simply offer technical assistance, according to insider sources who spoke to the press.
The House Homeland Security Committee will begin debating articles of impeachment against Mayorkas next week. Johnson expressed his desire to proceed straight to floor action after the committee votes in the letter.
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