Johnson warns Senate on immigration talks and vows to impeach Mayorkas soon

House Speaker Mike Johnson is warning in a new letter that the emerging border deal is “dead on arrival” in his chamber if it resembles anything close to what has been reported, while also announcing that the House will soon vote to make Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the second Cabinet secretary in history to be impeached.

Posted 3:06 p.m. Jan 26 — Updated 3:06 p.m. Jan 26

Manu Raju

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Lauren Fox, CNN

CNN — House Speaker Mike Johnson is warning in a new letter that the emerging border deal is “dead on arrival” in his chamber if it resembles anything close to what has been reported, while also announcing that the House will soon vote to make Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas the second Cabinet secretary in history to be impeached.

While the Senate deal has not been released and negotiators warn that the leaks of the package have not been accurate, Johnson’s warning on Friday underscores the high hurdle lawmakers face to pass a major national security package that includes aid to Ukraine and Israel.

Johnson reiterated demands to pass the House GOP’s immigration bill known as HR 2 even though that plan has no chance of passing the Senate.

In the letter, Johnson wrote, “I wanted to provide a brief update regarding the supplemental and the border since the Senate appears unable to reach any agreement. If rumors about the contents of the draft proposal are true, it would have been dead on arrival in the House anyway.”

Johnson said that the House Homeland Security Committee would move ahead next week in committee with articles of impeachment for Mayorkas and “a vote on the floor will be held as soon as possible thereafter.”

Johnson’s move comes as former President Donald Trump has injected himself once again into an immigration showdown on Capitol Hill and as Johnson reiterated his calls for President Joe Biden to use executive action to enforce the border using his executive powers.

“Many of our constituents have asked an important question ‘what is the point of negotiating new laws with an administration that will not enforce the laws already on the books,” Johnson wrote. “If President Biden wants us to believe he is serious about protecting our national sovereignty, he needs to demonstrate his good faith by taking immediate actions to secure it. He should sign an order right now to end the mass release of illegals and dangerous persons into our country.”

The pronouncement comes as Senate leaders have said that bill text could be released as soon as next week. It also highlights a major fault line between the new speaker and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has spent the last six months advocating that his party must deliver aid to Ukraine as the country continues its fight against Russia.

On Thursday, McConnell made clear again to his conference that he views the funding as essential and the emerging border deal as the major opportunity for the party to get major concessions on the border.

But Trump has argued that tackling the border would only undermine his bid for the White House, handing Biden a victory on an issue that would otherwise be a major vulnerability for him in November.

“A Border Deal now would be another Gift to the Radical Left Democrats. They need it politically, but don’t care about our Border,” Trump said in a statement Thursday. “What is currently being worked on in the Senate will be meaningless in terms of Border Security and Closure.”

He added, “If you want to have a really Secure Border, your ONLY HOPE is to vote for TRUMP2024.”

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