The House Homeland Security Committee will on Tuesday markup the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who has played a particularly crucial part of this effort, spoke to Townhall to not only discuss how impeachment came to the committee she serves on, but where she plans to go from there, especially when it comes to us being in an election year.
While articles of impeachment normally go through the House Judiciary Committee, they "were going nowhere sitting in judiciary," Greene pointed out, and are in this instance going through Homeland Security. The congresswoman made sure to thank Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) for such an effort as well.
As Greene also reminded Townhall, and as we covered at the time, her resolution that she brought to the floor last November to impeach Mayorkas was tabled, and with the help of eight of Greene's fellow Republicans. "I made a lot of people angry," Greene pointed out, who shared that she brought the resolution over that "frustration" felt with two of her constituents killed by illegal immigrants leading her to bring that resolution, though she nevertheless stressed we would not have this effort had she not brought that resolution.
Greene wasn't just frustrated, she was determined. "I think it's important to recognize if I had not done that--and I made a lot of people angry when I did it--if I had not done that, this wouldn't even be happening right now," she shared. "There would be no impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas if I hadn't had forced that floor vote. I told leadership that I was going I was going to reintroduce it every single week. I told them every single week, putting everyone on record, if you don't move forward to impeach him. And they promised me they would, they promised me they would, and you know what? They're following through on their promises," Greene added.
A GOP strategist also spoke with Townhall about how instrumental Greene was on this effort, noting "Mayorkas has been a total disaster for our country and allowed a wide open border. Republicans usually just talk, but MTG took action. Let’s be clear: the impeachment of Mayorkas would not be happening unless MTG held GOP Leadership’s feet to the flames. She deserves a lot of credit."
While President Joe Biden, Democrats, and some Senate Republicans, are calling for a deal to be able to secure the border, it's something the president can do all on his own, but refuses to do. In reminding that it's "very simple," Greene pushed for passage of HR, also known as the Secure the Border Act. Greene called the bill, which passed the House last year, "the strongest border security bill that's ever been passed" and noted "it literally solves the entire problem."
Congress is currently trying to figure out a deal to provide aid to Ukraine and secure the border. But, what's known about any such a deal is already earning strong opposition from Greene and other conservatives. In particular, the congresswoman, who called the deal "a border surrender bill," mentioned to Townhall that she is concerned about capping the level of illegal immigrants coming over at 5,000 a day, as well funding the war in Ukraine, as she noted "the unbelievable amount of corruption."
Former Obama DHS Secretary: “I cannot begin to imagine what 4,000 a day looks like....we are truly in a crisis.”
— Heritage Foundation (@Heritage) January 29, 2024
December saw an average of 9,000+ encounters per day.
The border “security” deal in the Senate allows Biden to let at least 5,000 of those in—every single day. pic.twitter.com/foJX5sp1gq
But, electing Donald Trump is another major step. And, should Trump take office once more, Greene very much plans to be a major part of his immigration efforts, namely when it comes to assisting in the deportation of illegal immigrants. Trump has also been a factor in opposing the current deal as well.
"The border is a top issue for him," Greene stressed when mentioning Trump. This is especially as immigration is a top issue, if not the top issue for voters as the election approaches. This includes for Republican voters for the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, as the congresswoman mentioned, but for voters overall. According to a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll released last week, immigration is the top concern for voters, with 35 percent saying so. That polls shows Biden with just a 35 percent approval rating on immigration, while RealClearPolling has him with just a 31.5 percent approval rating on this issue, making it his worst one.
A Wall Street Journal poll released last month also showed Trump with a particularly high lead over Biden on securing the border, in that 54 percent of voters trust him more on that issue, compared to the 24 percent who say they trust Biden more.
Even with the election still slightly over nine months away, Greene noted immigration is "already impacting" races for not just the White House, but also the House and Senate races, stressing it's "already impacting every single campaign across the country."
House Republicans appear to be united on fixing the border crisis, as a letter last Friday from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) made clear, in which he called even just the rumored deal "dead on arrival." His letter also pushed for the passage HR 2. Should he want to keep the gavel, Johnson will have to remain opposed to any such bad deals.
Any border "shutdown" authority that ALLOWS even one illegal crossing is a non-starter. Thousands each day is outrageous. The number must be ZERO.
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 29, 2024
As Greene made clear to Townhall, this is her "red line" when it comes to filling a motion to vacate the chair. "I had told Speaker Johnson, when this border deal was first being discussed in the Senate, and the funding for Ukraine, I had told him that was my red line. I told him in the beginning, if you agree to this border surrender deal and give $60 billion to Ukraine and to keep that war going... I told him that was a big vacate line," she shared.
Shutting down the border is important enough to Greene that she is willing to shut the government down. Greene saw it as one of the many ways in which she aligns herself with Trump, who she made clear she speaks to on a frequent basis.
Greene, who stressed that she was "results driven" when it comes to how she'll "reserve" how she'll feel when asked if she's encouraged about House leadership wanting to secure the border, is happy by the results she's seeing right now. Nevertheless, she still stressed "I don't think I should have never had to go to the extremes to get these results." As the situation currently stands, though, she and Trump are "very, very happy" about Johnson "standing strong."
After the markup goes through the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, it's likely that it will be taken up by the House next week. In sharing that timeframe, Fox News' Chad Pergram talked about "a SERIOUS split-screen here," especially when it comes to the timing of reaching a deal on the border bill. Greene had noted the significance of such timing in speaking with Townhall as well.
B) Note that we could have a SERIOUS split-screen here.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) January 29, 2024
That means a House debate/vote on impeaching Mayorkas could run directly into the Senate prospectively debating and/or voting on its border bill – if the bipartisan senators can ever wrap up language and bill text.
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