Mayorkas Impeached, Ukraine Aid Bill, and Dems Win a Seat
Hello and welcome back to another week of Politics Explained! If you’re new, we publish short and concise blogs every Friday that recap the happenings of Capitol Hill. There’s a lot to cover this week ranging from an impeachment to a flipped seat in the House, to a new Ukraine and Israel aid bill. Just a reminder, if you want to continue to stay updated throughout the week, go checkout our instagram @politicsexplained1776! Without further ado, let's get started.
This past Tuesday, the House of Representatives impeached the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This is the first time in around 150 years of this country’s history that a Cabinet* secretary has been impeached. A week after their first attempt failed, House Republicans impeached Mayorkas accusing him of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and a "breach of public trust" over concerns of the security of the U.S.-Mexico border. The vote was incredibly close at 214-213, as three House Republicans opposed the rest of their party. Looking ahead, the Senate must also approve of this impeachment for Mayorkas to actually be removed from his office, but the chances of that are extremely low.
The Senate has passed an Israel-Ukraine aid bill of $95.3 Billion that’s backed by President Biden. The vote in the Senate was 70-29, but must also pass through the House of Representatives where it’s uncertain whether or not it’ll make it through. As we’ve been keeping track of this push for more aid to Ukraine and Israel for months now, it’s most likely that House Republicans will want increased border security along with passing the bill. On Tuesday, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he doesn’t even plan on allowing the bill to be voted on, saying the House has more important matters to deal with. All the while, President Biden has voiced his concern for Ukraine and the urgency for this bill to be passed. Stick around for next week’s blog for more developments on this stalemate!
This week, former Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY) won the special election to fill the seat of former Representative George Santos on Long Island. In 2020, this district was one of the 5 New York districts that voted for President Joe Biden but elected a Republican Representative. With Mr. Suozzi’s win, the seat flipped from red to blue, giving the Democrats a larger margin in New York and a larger margin overall in the House of Representatives. Tom Suozzi won the seat with 54% of voters over state legislator Mazi Pilip. Tom Suozzi will finish out Geogre Santos’s term and will be up for reelection in November. One of the driving factors for Suozzi’s win was his differing views from his fellow Democrats on strengthening the Southern border. For Democrats, this was a big win and helped them tighten the gap in DC to 219-214.
*Definition of the Week (Cabinet): An advisory body made up of the heads of the 15 executive departments, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.
