The House Republicans’ effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was an unexpected debacle for GOP leaders. They thought they had the votes, and they were wrong.
But 10 minutes later, the House Republican leadership suffered another defeat, and this one was arguably even worse. NBC News reported:
The House on Tuesday failed to pass a stand-alone bill to provide aid to Israel amid congressional infighting over a bipartisan Senate border bill that also included foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The vote was 250-180. The bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass in the House under an expedited process for its consideration — a steep hurdle.
Fourteen Republicans ended up voting against the legislation — far-right members opposed the bill because it wasn’t paid for — but even if these members had voted with their party, it still would’ve fallen short of the two-thirds majority needed for passage.
Stepping back, the larger context matters. Republicans initially balked at a security aid package that would’ve provided funds to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. GOP officials said at the time that they’d only consider such a bill if Democrats agreed to tie it to an unrelated priority: overhauling the nation’s immigration and border policies.
Democrats, reluctant to let Russia take part of Eastern Europe by force, agreed to pay the ransom, at which point Republicans rejected the compromise they demanded. House GOP leaders then moved on to an alternative bill that included no border reforms, nothing for Ukraine, and nothing for Taiwan. It offered Israeli aid — and nothing else.
Democrats saw this for what it was — a sham offered in bad faith — and largely rejected it. In the process, House Speaker Mike Johnson and his House Republican leadership team suffered back-to-back defeats, on the same night, 10 minutes apart.
This second was arguably worse because it would’ve been so easy to avoid it. The impeachment crusade was months in the making, but the House speaker’s office just threw together the Israel aid bill this week. There was no rush. There were no deadlines. Everyone involved realized that the measure wasn’t going to pass the Senate anyway. If Johnson were nevertheless determined to pursue it, the Louisiana congressman could’ve taken his time, lined up support, and positioned himself and his bill for success. Instead, Johnson pushed the wrong bill, the wrong way, knowing full well that it would almost certainly fail. So let’s take stock. House Republicans can’t pass their own priorities; Senate Republicans just rejected the border deal they demanded; Donald Trump, already facing 91 felony counts, continues to suffer important legal defeats; and the Republican National Committee appears to be unraveling. I wrote roughly 24 hours ago that the GOP is in disarray. A day later, conditions for the Republican Party appear considerably worse.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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