House Republicans Fail at Trump's Bidding

Republican Speaker Johnson suffered a stunning series of defeats Tuesday night as his party failed to impeach Biden's top border official and could not pass Johnson's signature standalone bill.

Representative Mike Johnson (R-LA) during the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda summit in Washington, D.C., US, on Monday, July 25, 2022. (Photo by Al Drago/via Getty Images

Last night proved to be another moment of truth for Republicans in the House of Representatives as they set about the business of doing more of Donald Trump’s dirty work. First up was the attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a Republican move meant to disparage President Biden over border issues in an election year while attempting to highlight the extreme immigration tactics of Donald Trump aimed at conservative voters in an election year.

Party support for the move had been waning for a week, but Speaker Johnson (R-LA) took the articles of impeachment to the House floor for a vote last night despite his shrinking numbers. Ultimately, four Republicans refused to side with the party of Trump, and they voted with Democrats to block the impeachment of Mayorkas by only two votes.

Despite the failure, Republicans vowed to try to impeach Mayorkas again when they “have the votes for passage.” Republican Representative Mike Simpson (ID) explained that his leaders intended to arrange for a second vote on Mayorkas once House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (LA), who has been receiving treatment for cancer, returns from sick leave. While Scalise’s office has given no confirmation about when he plans to return, it is clear that members of the GOP intend to put Scalise in the hot seat by demanding loyalty for Trump through an impeachment vote.

Senior Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Bennie Thompson (MS), said in an interview that the vote was indicative of Republicans “not understanding the gravity of what impeachment is all about." While this is certainly evident from past conservative refusal to impeach Donald Trump, last night’s attempt at casting a shadow over the Biden administration was primarily a political stunt meant to rally their base, and the result was a resounding lesson in futility.

While Republicans claim that the impeachment process was a necessary solution to border security problems that had been enabled by Secretary Mayorkas, ultimately the move was simple retribution for Democrats twice launching the impeachment process against Donald Trump while he was president. President Biden summed up the motivations of the GOP in a statement on his bi-partisan border legislation saying: "All indications are this bill won't even move forward to the Senate floor. Why? The simple reason: Donald Trump. Because Donald Trump thinks it's bad for him politically."

Following the shocking, two vote defeat Republicans suffered at the hands of a select few within their own party, Speaker Johnson next attempted to pass his standalone bill on aid to Israel, that was meant to bypass the Senate’s efforts to attach aid to a bipartisan border bill. Had Johnson been successful, Senate efforts to push forward on a bi-partisan national security package would have been further stymied, as Republicans would have been able to move forward on Israeli aid, a substantial bartering chip in both chambers.

That move failed as well, mere minutes after Republicans were unable to secure the votes to impeach Secretary Mayorkas. "It is clear they are now committed to using Israel aid as leverage to force through other priorities that do not enjoy nearly the same degree of consensus," Johnson said. In a grand stroke of irony following his attempt to bypass political strategy, Johnson continued: "Leveraging Israel aid as it fights for survival is wrong." 

Members of Congress, from both parties opposed the Johnson aid package for different reasons, despite ultimately supporting the move of sending more aid to Israel. Conservative Republicans objected on the basis that the bill did not contain a clause that would enable the payment for the billions of dollars. Democrats remained intent on keeping aid to the US ally contained within a larger bill that includes funding for Ukraine, Taiwan, and humanitarian relief for civilians in Gaza.

One thing is clear: had Johnson been successful at convincing enough members of his own party to strip away aid to Israel in his special, standalone bill, it would have been seen as a major success for Republicans. Ultimately, Donald Trump would have been able to campaign on the success of bypassing Democratic strategy, and once the bill failed in the Senate, Trump would have been able to do what he does best — play victim to the Democratic machine.

Despite the crushing defeat suffered by the Republican Party in the US House of Representatives last night, a few members of the GOP were able to move forward on some political strategy that didn’t involve the tell-tale truth of another failed vote. Resident Republican sycophants Matt Gaetz (FL) and Elise Stefanik (NY) announced a resolution on Tuesday that formally declared that former President Trump “did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”

The resolution, which has less legal credibility than the paper it is printed on, is meant as an official, albeit practically worthless rebuke to the many ongoing attempts to disqualify Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in several US states. The resolution has more than 60 conservative co-sponsors, which will undoubtedly serve as a veritable “Who’s Who” for Trump loyalty as we head into this next election cycle. This resolution by the GOP was successful, in that Gaetz and Stefanik were able to present it to the press without any real pushback, and the move did not require the support of the entire Republican Caucus through a floor vote.

While conservative politicians sought to fight Donald Trump’s impending election battles on the House floor yesterday, the three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued their ruling affirming the lower court finding that Donald Trump is not immune from criminal prosecution. Although this ruling will be held in abeyance until Feb. 12 to allow for an appeal to the US Supreme Court, one thing is quite clear: Donald Trump’s attempts to gain the appearance of an advantage through his political cronies are failing just as miserably as his lawyer’s arguments are in the courts.

---

Amee Vanderpool writes the SHERO Newsletter, is an attorney, published author, contributor to newspapers and magazines, and an analyst for BBC radio. She can be reached at avanderpool@gmail.com or follow her on Twitter @girlsreallyrule.

Paid subscriptions and one-time tributes embedded in each article allow me to keep publishing critical and informative work that is sometimes made available to the public — thank you. If you like this piece and want to support independent journalism further, you can forward this article to others, get a paid subscription or gift subscription, or donate as much as you like today.