Rep. Nick LaLota, R-Amityville, voted Tuesday to impeach Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, accusing him of refusing to enforce border laws.
The 214-213 vote was an unprecedented action against a member of the Cabinet.
LaLota, whose district includes Huntington, said after the vote, “Secretary Mayorkas has willfully and systematically ignored our nation’s laws and done more damage to America than any other cabinet Secretary in our nation’s history. Every day he is in office puts more American families at risk. Now that the House has impeached him, the Senate should move swiftly to convict and remove. Then, our nation can be stronger and our borders more secure.”
LaLota is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee.
“The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump,” Senate Majoriy Leader Schumer said in a statement, adding that House Republicans “failed to present any evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offense.”
The House vote sends the matter to the US Senate, where conviction on the impeachment charges requires approval by two-thirds of the members.