House Passes Bill to Defund Secretary Mayorkas

In a significant political maneuver, the GOP-led House voted on Wednesday to defund Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, an official from the Biden administration previously impeached by the lower chamber for his handling of the border crisis.

The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), saw 193 Republican lawmakers voting in favor. This amendment forms part of appropriations legislation intended to provide tens of billions of dollars to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the next fiscal year. All 172 voting Democrats and one Republican opposed the measure, while 72 members, including 28 Republicans and 44 Democrats, abstained from voting.

“The House just passed my amendment to defund the office of the DHS Secretary,” Biggs announced on social media platform X. “Alejandro Mayorkas — who was impeached earlier this year — doesn’t deserve a single penny from American taxpayers.”

Despite the House’s approval, reporter Anthony Adragna from POLITICO highlighted that the amendment faces significant hurdles. “Similar efforts have been adopted in the past, only to be stripped out as the House and Senate resolve differences between their versions of spending legislation,” Adragna noted.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) introduced a different amendment to reduce Mayorkas’ salary to $1, which failed to pass. However, another amendment from Greene, aiming to prevent DHS from partnering with the State Department for "Safe Mobility Offices," did succeed.

In mid-February, the House narrowly approved the impeachment resolution against Mayorkas by a 214-213 vote, making him the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876. Three Republican lawmakers sided with Democrats in opposing the impeachment.

The impeachment articles accused Mayorkas of “willfully and systemically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws and claimed he “breached the public trust” through false statements and obstructing lawful oversight of DHS. Despite these accusations, the Democrat-controlled Senate quashed the articles in April before a full trial could commence, denying the impeachment managers a chance to present their case.

In January, Mayorkas defended himself against what he described as “false accusations,” stating they “do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”

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