House Speaker Mike Johnson is warning in a new letter that the emerging border deal is “dead on arrival” in his chamber if it resembles anything close to what has been reported, while also announcing that the House will soon vote to make Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the second Cabinet secretary in history to be impeached.
While the Senate deal has not been released and negotiators warn that the leaks of the package have not been accurate, Johnson’s warning on Friday underscores the high hurdle lawmakers face to pass a major national security package that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Johnson reiterated demands to pass the House GOP’s immigration bill known as HR 2 even though that plan has no chance of passing the Senate.
In the letter, Johnson wrote, “I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway.”
Johnson said that the House Homeland Security Committee would move ahead next week in committee with articles of impeachment for Mayorkas and “a vote on the floor will be held as soon as possible thereafter.”
Johnson’s move comes as former President Donald Trump has injected himself once again into an immigration showdown on Capitol Hill and as Johnson reiterated his calls for President Joe Biden to use executive action to enforce the border using his executive powers.
“Many of our constituents have asked an important question ‘what is the point of negotiating new laws with an administration that will not enforce the laws already on the books,” Johnson wrote. “If President Biden wants us to believe he is serious about protecting our national sovereignty, he needs to demonstrate his good faith by…
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