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January 3, 2024
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THE TOP
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News: The House Homeland Security Committee is formally moving ahead with impeachment proceedings against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The first hearing will take place on Jan. 10, with a possible second hearing to be held the following week.
Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said the conclusion of the panel’s investigation in December has provided House Republicans with enough evidence to impeach Mayorkas. Green accused Mayorkas of misusing taxpayer dollars and purposefully ignoring border security measures.
“Our investigation made clear that this crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas’ decision-making and refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and that his failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability,” Green told us in a statement. “The bipartisan House vote in November to refer articles of impeachment to my Committee only served to highlight the importance of our taking up the impeachment process – which is what we will begin doing next Wednesday.”
This is a major escalation in Green’s nearly year-long probe into Mayorkas, which was split into five phases. The investigation looked at the origins, effects and economic costs of the influx of millions of undocumented migrants who have illegally crossed the U.S. border since Mayorkas has held his post.
It also comes as House Republicans launched a formal impeachment inquiry last month into President Joe Biden. That probe could wrap up as early as February.
On top of that, House Republicans will be grappling with two looming government shutdown deadlines when they return to Capitol Hill next week.
While there have been multiple presidential and judicial impeachment proceedings held by Congress in recent decades, this would mark the first impeachment of a Cabinet official since Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
The process is essentially the same, however. A majority of the House could vote to remove Mayorkas over alleged “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The Senate would then hold a trial, with two-thirds of senators needing to vote to convict in order to remove Mayorkas from office. This is very unlikely in a Democratic-run Senate, despite Democrats’ bad polls on handling the U.S.-Mexico border.
There will be significant debate over whether Mayorkas, in carrying out the policies of the Biden administration, somehow committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
House GOP leaders will be down to a two-vote margin soon following the looming exit of Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) in a few weeks. House Republicans don’t exactly have a strong track record of passing anything this Congress, so Mayorkas’ impeachment isn’t a given if all Democrats continue to back him.
Yet the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border has arguably been House Republicans’ biggest rallying cry heading into a critical election year. The issue is widely seen as a huge political problem for Democrats and Biden. The president’s poll numbers on this issue are terrible.
On Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said there were 302,000 migrant encounters in December, the highest number of illegal crossings ever recorded in a month, according to Fox News.
We have our own on-the-ground report from the border in the next item and the political dynamics at play around it.
Green’s first hearing is expected to be titled: “Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States.”
The hearing will explore how Midwestern states have grappled with the flow of migrants that have increasingly come across the southern border in recent years.
The House GOP leadership hasn’t determined yet when a formal vote would take place on impeachment, but multiple sources said there will be a markup on an impeachment resolution. Mayorkas isn’t expected to appear before the committee for now.
Mia Ehrenberg, DHS spokesperson, said Republicans have “no valid basis” to impeach Mayorkas.
“The House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote,” Ehrenberg said.
Homeland Security Committee Democrats have also called Green’s impeachment efforts “baseless.”
“No matter how many reports Republicans release or hearings they hold, nothing Chairman Green has done this past year has changed the fact that the extreme MAGA Republican effort to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is completely baseless,” said Ranking Member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.). “They’ve only shown the American people it is nothing more than a political stunt without any foundation in the Constitution. It was never meant to be a legitimate investigation – only a MAGA spectacle.”
Of course, hardline conservative Republicans have been itching to impeach Mayorkas for a while now.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she was guaranteed a Mayorkas impeachment vote by Green and Speaker Mike Johnson back in November. This came after the House voted to refer her articles of impeachment on Mayorkas to the Homeland Security panel.
Last week, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), who first filed impeachment articles against Mayorkas back in 2021, reiterated his call to boot Mayorkas from his post.
“Every day Alejandro Mayorkas remains in public office, America is less safe,” Biggs said in a post. “Congress must impeach him.”
— Mica Soellner and John Bresnahan
THE SPEAKER
Dozens of House Republicans will be at the border. We’re there, too.
SAN ANTONIO — We’re heading down to Eagle Pass this morning to meet up with Speaker Mike Johnson and 60 House Republicans who are here to tour the U.S.-Mexico border.
Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), whose district runs along the border, worked privately with Johnson and his staff to plan the trip. Gonzales has hosted nearly two dozen delegation visits to the border during the last few years. The Texas Republican told us that he believes this will be the largest congressional trip ever to the region.
The tour began Tuesday night when lawmakers met with Joel Martinez, the U.S. Border Patrol’s chief patrol agent for the Laredo sector. The delegation will head to Eagle Pass today, where members are expected to visit the “Firefly” tent processing center.
Republican lawmakers will also meet with Mike Banks, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott’s border czar, Steven McCraw, director of the Texas Department of Public Safety, and ranchers and local citizens to discuss what life is like on the U.S. side of the Texas-Mexico border.
Most interestingly, this trip comes as the Senate and the White House try to hammer out a border security and immigration package. Republicans have conditioned aid to Ukraine on the passage of a border-and-immigration bill. Several senators — including Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) — returned to Washington this week to continue to negotiate.
Murphy said Tuesday that the negotiators will need to update senators on their talks when the chamber returns to session next week, regardless of whether the group clinches a deal by then. Some senators have griped about how the details of the ongoing negotiations are shrouded in secrecy.
Most lawmakers understand that the situation on the southern border isn’t sustainable. But where they differ is on the substance of what needs to be done and how.
There are two dynamics we’d like to point out this morning.
Gonzales says the House won’t rubber-stamp a Senate border deal. Gonzales is a key figure to watch in the coming debate. His district covers a huge chunk of the U.S. border with Mexico, and House GOP leaders have frequently looked to Gonzales for guidance on migrant policy. Gonzales told us he’s in near daily contact with the Senate’s border negotiating team.
Which is why our ears perked up when he told us Tuesday that if the Senate comes up with an immigration-and-border deal, the House will want major changes:
This is important to keep in mind. In many ways, it shows the folly of the White House deciding to negotiate with the Senate instead of with the House. It’s why last spring’s debt deal was between the White House and then Speaker Kevin McCarthy — because House passage was the real test.
Gonzales said he wants Congress to significantly increase how many repatriation flights it conducts each day for undocumented migrants. As of now, Gonzales said ICE uses this practice for migrants who have no claim of asylum in the United States. In addition, Gonzales said he’d push for tougher border security in the bill.
Johnson’s test. Today is Johnson’s 70th day as speaker of the House. It’s been difficult to get a good read on how Johnson intends to govern. On a number of issues, he’s been difficult to nail down. See FISA renewal, for example.
But today is Johnson’s first public event of 2024, and he faces several weighty challenges in the coming months.
On the border, we’ll have to see how much more detail Johnson gets into on what he can or cannot accept in a border package. As of now, Johnson has said that he wants any Senate package to mirror H.R. 2, the hardline House GOP border-security proposal. No House Democrats voted for the measure back in May, and it’s gone nowhere in the Democratic-run Senate.
However, Johnson has also begun getting top-level intelligence briefings and is in favor of funding Ukraine, which is a change for him.
On government funding, we’re eager to hear more about how Johnson plans to avoid a partial government shutdown in 16 days. Negotiators have made some progress in crafting a topline spending plan, but there’s no deal yet. Johnson has said he’s not going to pass any more short-term CRs. So what is his solution?
While in Texas, Johnson is holding a news conference and sitting down for interviews with CNN’s Jake Tapper and CBS’ Margaret Brennan.
— Jake Sherman
MOVING DOWNTOWN
Top McCarthy aide lands at Harbinger
John Leganski, a top adviser to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is joining Harbinger Strategies as a partner.
Leganski worked for McCarthy for more than a decade, rising from an intern during his time at Stanford to serving as the California Republican’s deputy chief of staff. Leganski is a specialist on the inner workings of the House and was one of the top aides to McCarthy during his 15-ballot race for speaker in January 2021. Leganski was also among the small group of House GOP aides that hammered out the Fiscal Responsibility Act with the White House last spring.
Leganski will be joining several former top leadership staffers at Harbinger. Partners at the firm include Steve Stombres, former chief of staff to former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor; Kyle Nevins, who ran the floor for Cantor; Manny Rossman, a former chief of staff to two Senate GOP whips; and Jonathan Slemrod, who worked at the Office of Management and Budget and for Senate GOP leadership.
Harbinger’s clients include Airlines for America, Blackstone, Comcast, General Dynamics and Citigroup.
— Jake Sherman
PRESENTED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS
Unfair pension obligations cost the Postal Service a shocking $3 billion in 2023. Let’s stop the raid.
Another year, another ad attacking capital reform
Center Forward is out with another ad attacking the Federal Reserve’s Basel III endgame proposal. It kicks off 2024 with a TV spot knocking capital reform, and it won’t be the last of the year.
The 30-second ad cites concerns from “experts everywhere” about the potential impacts of the Fed’s proposed rules to increase capital and risk management requirements for big banks.
“In America, people disagree on just about everything — except the Fed’s new rules that would tighten capital markets,” the ad says. (We’re pretty sure most Americans don’t have a very firm opinion on Basel III.)
The ad spotlights comments from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups on how the Basel III proposal could affect banks’ ability to fuel economic growth and serve small businesses while also raising the cost of borrowing and clean energy. This isn’t the first time Center Forward has gone after the proposed rules. The advocacy group sparked headlines after buying an ad spot during Sunday Night Football in November.
The new rounds of ads come as the Fed continues to finalize the Basel III proposal for this year along with other tweaks to banks’ capital requirements. The proposed rules would put in place recommendations that have been in the works for years, plus some changes in response to a string of bank failures in 2023.
Republicans in Congress have opposed the Biden administration’s effort, and some more centrist Democrats have been wary too. The banking lobby’s push for the Fed to water down these changes continues to be its top political priority in 2024, and the coming months will be crunch time for outside groups to weigh in.
— Laura Weiss
THE CAMPAIGN
Biden’s moves: President Joe Biden will deliver a speech at Valley Forge on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Biden will also travel to Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., the following Monday to deliver a speech on the rise in political violence.
McDonald Rivet enters Michigan race: Michigan Democratic state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet is officially entering the race to succeed retiring Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) in the state’s toss-up 8th District. We scooped in December that McDonald Rivet was preparing to announce her run for Congress in early January.
Kildee consistently beat back GOP challengers in recent cycles in the bellwether seat. In her announcement, McDonald Rivet pledged to continue “Kildee’s legacy in Congress” by passing bipartisan legislation to bring down costs and protect freedoms.
McBride picks up another endorsement: Elect Democratic Women is endorsing state Sen. Sarah McBride in the primary for Delaware’s open House seat. McBride, who would become the first openly transgender member of Congress if elected, has also been backed by EMILY’s List and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.
Lofgren backs Weiss: Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) is endorsing Joanna Weiss’ bid for Congress in California’s 47th District. It’s a big pickup for Weiss, who is looking to succeed Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) in the competitive Orange County seat.
New entrant in New Jersey Senate race: Progressive labor leader Patricia Campos-Medina is jumping into the New Jersey Senate race as Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-N.J.) standing continues to worsen. Here’s her release video. Tammy Murphy, the first lady of New Jersey, is the front-runner as of now.
— Max Cohen
PRESENTED BY NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LETTER CARRIERS
Biden needs to fix the problem. Let’s stop the raid.
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One size rarely fits all. That’s why Apollo provides custom capital solutions designed to help companies achieve their ambitious business goals. Think Credit New