Mike Johnson justifies Mayorkas impeachment, claiming ‘desperate times call for desperate measures’ – live | US politics

A valentine from Donald J Trump

In an email to supporters, Donald Trump shared his valentine to his wife, Melania. It’s a bit … unusual.

“Even after every single INDICTMENT, ARREST, and WITCH HUNT, you never left my side. You’ve always supported me through everything,” reads the note, which has the subject line “I love you, Melania!”

“I wouldn’t be the man I am today without your guidance, kindness, and warmth,” he adds. “You will always mean the world to me, Melania!”

The message is signed “From your husband with love, Donald J. Trump.”

Johnson is downplaying a Democratic win last night in a Long Island district formerly represented by Republican George Santos.

“That is in no way a bellwether of what is going to happen this fall,” he said.

He noted that Tom Suozzi, the candidate who won, had formerly represented the district in Congress and was widely known already. He also said that many of the positions Suozzi took on issues like immigration resembled Republican ones.

“The result last night is not something that Democrats should celebrate too much,” he added.

There has been some finger-pointing on Capitol Hill on Wednesday over the result, according to Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman.

House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the Republican vote on Tuesday to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures. We had to do that,” he said during a weekly press conference of Republican leadership. It was a quote that can be read with remarkably different meaning depending on if you’re a Democrat or Republican.

“He has abdicated his responsibility, he’s breached the public trust, and he’s disregarded the laws Congress has passed,” Johnson added.

The speaker went on to suggest there were still significant differences between senate and house Republicans on passing a border bill. A bipartisan bill that paired securing the border with foreign aid failed last week after conservative Republicans blocked it, which was humiliating for the GOP.

“The Republican-led House will not be jammed into passing a foreign aid bill that was opposed by most Republican senators and does nothing to secure our own border,” he said.

After the special counsel Robert Hur’s report, Mike Johnson says Biden is not fit to hold office.

“The DOJ is indicting one president with politically motivated charges and they are now carrying the water for another amid very similar allegations,” he said. “A man too incapable of being held accountable for handling classified information is certainly unfit for the Oval Office.”

Mark Green, the chairman of the House homeland security committee, urged the Senate to take action and remove Mayorkas from office.

“The constitutional case against Secretary Mayorkas is sound,” he said. “It’s now time for the Senate to do its duty, to step up, hold a trial and convict Secretary Mayorkas.”

Republicans are beginning their weekly press conference by criticizing Joe Biden after a bombshell report from special counsel Robert Hur last week that raised issues about his memory.

“There cannot be one set of rules if your last name is Biden and another set of rules for the rest of America,” said Representative Elise Stefanik.

Mike Johnson is about to speak at a regular press conference of House leadership shortly. He’s expected to address the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, among other topics.

My colleague Adam Gabbatt has a great breakdown of Tom Suozzi’s victory in a closely watched congressional race on Long Island and whether it means trouble for Republicans in November:

One Republican political consultant noted that Suozzi’s sizeable margin of victory – after polling showed a slim lead – could certainly mean trouble for Republicans.

“It’s clear that attempts to tie him to the migrant crisis were woefully unsuccessful,” consultant William FB O’Reilly told City & State. “Republicans put all their eggs in that basket, but voters weren’t buying it.

“The big walkaway question is how potent a national issue migration will be in 2024,” he added. “If it didn’t play in migrant-flooded New York, how’s it going to play in Podunk?”

Mark Green, the chairman of the House homeland security committee, has written an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal explaining the decision to impeach Mayorkas. Portions of the op-ed appear designed to rebut criticism that Republicans are impeaching Mayorkas over mere policy disagreements.

Here are some key paragraphs:

Impeachment doesn’t require the commission of indictable crimes. The framers of the Constitution conceived of impeachment as a remedy for much more expansive failures. When officials responsible for executing the law willfully and unilaterally refuse to do so, and instead replace those laws with their own directives, they violate the Constitution by assuming power granted solely to the legislative branch. They undermine the rule of law itself – an offense worthy of impeachment and removal.

The framers gave the House the power of impeachment to preserve the integrity of our constitutional system. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 65, impeachable offenses are those “which proceed … from the abuse or violation of some public trust.” James Madison added that “the House of Representatives can at any time impeach” an unworthy officeholder, “whether the president chooses or not.”

There is little doubt that the framers, who cast aside tyrannical rule in favor of representative government, would view Mr. Mayorkas’s refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust as impeachable. He is the type of public official for which they crafted this power. The Senate must finish the House’s work and convict Secretary Mayorkas.

Here’s the full statement from Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader, responding to the House’s impeachment vote:

This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans. The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump.

House Republicans failed to produce any evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has committed any crime.

House Republicans failed to show he has violated the Constitution.

House Republicans failed to present any evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offense.

This is a new low for House Republicans.

Three Republicans joined all of the Democrats in voting against impeaching Mayorkas.

One of them was Ken Buck, a Colorado congressman who is retiring at the end of this Congress. He told CNN that he did not believe the accusations against Mayorkas amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors.

“You can try to put lipstick on this pig, it is still a big, and this is a terrible impeachment. It sets a terrible precedent,” he told the network. He added he was concerned impeachment could cause Republicans to lose credibility with Americans.

Representatives Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Tom McClintock of California were the other Republicans to vote against impeachment.

Why did Republicans impeach Mayorkas?

The US constitution says that an official can only be impeached for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”. That is supposed to set an extraordinarily high bar for removing someone from office and may be why impeachment has been so rarely used in US history.

Republicans say Mayorkas has cleared that threshold because he “willfully and systematically” refused to enforce immigration law. They also claim he breached the public trust and accuse him of making false statements to Congress. (You can read the full articles of impeachment here.)

The accusations against Mayorkas don’t contain bombshell evidence of a serious crime, but rather appear to be a policy dispute over how to enforce immigration law. Mia Ehrenberg, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said Republicans acted “without a shred of evidence or legitimate constitutional grounds”.

Good morning and happy Valentine’s Day to all…