9 months ago
Some Republicans aren’t happy with House leadership after the lower chamber failed to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and failed to pass a clean $17.6 billion Israel aid bill all in one day.
“Getting rid of Speaker McCarthy has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said on X. “All work on separate spending bills has ceased. Spending reductions have been traded for spending increases. Warrantless spying has been temporarily extended. Our majority has shrunk.”
After Republicans built their case for months to impeach Mayorkas, they failed in a 214-216 vote Tuesday after four Republicans sided with Democrats. The public setback underscores the deep divisions within the conference, exacerbated by their thin majority.
Minutes after the impeachment vote failed, the measure to aid Israel in its war against Hamas went down 250-180. Nearly four dozen Democrats voted yes while more than a dozen Republicans opposed the measure.
“This is nothing short of embarrassing,” said Brittany Martinez, a former spokesperson for Kevin McCarthy. “With such a slim majority, two back-to-back failed votes signal that Leadership doesn’t have a hold of their Conference.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson was elected in late October after three other candidates failed to gain control of the gavel and McCarthy was ousted weeks prior.
Earlier Tuesday, Johnson predicted to reporters that he believed they would have the votes to impeach Mayorkas, even as he faced growing skepticism from within his own ranks and multiple holdouts refused to sign on.
“The House could really use Kevin McCarthy’s leadership right now,” said Mike Madrid, a California Republican consultant and a co-founder of the Lincoln Project.
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