Rep. Ken Buck Rejects Impeachment of Mayorkas, Calling Decision ‘Solid’

Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck said Thursday that he is a “solid” no to impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, explaining that while the “border is a disaster,” he does not believe the situation warrants such action from Congress.

“The people that I’m talking to on the outside, the constitutional experts, former members agree that this just isn’t an impeachable offense,” Buck said, reports NBC News. “It’s maladministration. He’s terrible. The border is a disaster, but that’s not impeachable.”

Buck’s decision could make it difficult for Republicans to push forward with impeaching Mayorkas, given the party’s tight majority hold of the House.

The impeachment articles are expected to be on the House floor next week for a vote to force a Senate trial. Republicans can only afford to lose just two votes, even if all members are present and vote. House Homeland Security Committee members early Wednesday voted along party lines to send the impeachment articles to the full House for a floor vote.

Buck had said he was undecided on impeaching Mayorkas and has been speaking with Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., and the committee’s staff. However, he said the House Republican leadership has not tried to sway his vote.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said he expects the impeachment to come to a House vote next week, but his vote may also come into play about the decision to send the articles to the Senate.

He has been absent from Washington, D.C., while undergoing cancer treatment. If he returns to vote, Republicans can afford to lose three votes on the measure.

Meanwhile, other Republicans have not committed to voting to impeach Mayorkas.

Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., gave a floor speech in November criticizing Mayorkas but said his actions don’t meet the threshold for impeachment.

“The next time Democrats have the majority, we can expect this new definition to be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court and any future Republican administration,” McClintock said at the time. “There will be nobody to stop them because Republicans will have signed off on this new and unconstitutional abuse of power.”

Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, has also met with Green and is reviewing the committee’s information, a spokesperson said. Further, Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., told reporters he was waiting for more details from the Homeland Security Committee.