Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s Face Show His Dejection.  Courtesy of The Huffington Post.

Dear Commons Community,

The Republicans in the House of Representatives lost two key votes yesterday on the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkis and on aid to Israel.

Impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkis

In a stunning blow to Republican leaders, the House rejected an effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas  after a number of Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it.

The final vote was 214 to 216.

The vote was incredibly dramatic. It was tied 215 to 215 for several minutes, with every Democrat voting no along with three Republicans: Reps. Ken Buck (Colo.), Tom McClintock (Calif.) and Mike Gallagher (Wis.). A tied vote meant the effort would fail, so Democrats began shouting “Order!” at Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to drop the gavel and end it.

Republicans were furiously prodding Gallagher to change his vote, but he wouldn’t. At the last minute, Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) voted no, not because he opposed the measure but because it would allow the House to bring it back up again another day. That bumped the final tally to 214-216.

Aid to Israel

A bill to provide Israel with more military aid went down to defeat yesterday in the House, spoiling Speaker Mike Johnson’s attempt to separate Israel from other national security priorities, including helping Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s military invasion and deterring crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The vote gave individual lawmakers another chance to show voters their support for Israel and could be used on the campaign trail to criticize those who voted against it. But it did little to generate momentum toward passage of a final emergency spending package.

The House had already gone on the record in support of an Israel aid package. Johnson brought that package up in November on one of his first days as the new House speaker. The vote was in response to Hamas and other militants killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking captive some 240 men, women and children in an Oct. 7 attack.

Regardless of the party, the House leadership generally only brings items to a vote when they are sure of the outcome. It is obvious that Speaker Mikc Johnson has a problem with controlling his Republican delegation.

Tony

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