Rep. McClintock Urges Review of Constitution Before Mayorkas Vote

Rep. Tom McClintock defended his vote against the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying the attempt significantly “dumbs down” the grounds laid out in the Constitution for making such a move (The Hill).

The California GOP member particularly lashed out at fellow Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia, a leading proponent of the impeachment move who said McClintock is “clearly” not paying attention to what the American people want, that he is failing his oath of office, and that he should “grow some courage and read the room.”

In response, McClintock told C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” that “instead of reading the room, I’d suggest that maybe she read the Constitution she took an oath to support and defend. That Constitution very clearly lays out the grounds for impeachment.”

He emphasized that this attempt to throw Mayorkas out of office “dumbs down those grounds dramatically and would set a precedent that could be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court or a future Republican administration the moment the Democrats take control of the Congress.”

On Tuesday McClintock released a memo that criticized Mayorkas for his handling of immigration at the southern border, but pointed out that the Republican Party had failed to identify an impeachable crime, writing that “clearly the founders worried that the power of impeachment could be used to settle political disputes and so searched for limiting language to avoid such abuse.”

The attempt to impeach Mayorkas failed 216-214 on Tuesday as two other GOP members joined McClintock in voting with the Democrats to block the move, while another Republican flipped his vote to “no” seconds before the vote closed as a procedural move that permits the party to bring the legislation back at a later date.