Watch live: Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas holds news conference

The House rejected a GOP push Tuesday to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a significant blow to the Republicans trying to make immigration and the border a top issue heading into the 2024 elections.

The vote failed by a count of 214-216 to not impeach Mayorkas, with no Democrats supporting the move and a handful of Republicans joining them. It was always a heavy lift for House Republican leaders to push the impeachment effort through considering their razor-thin majority in the lower chamber. That means Republicans could hardly afford to lose any votes in the impeachment fight.

House Republicans voted on two articles of impeachment accusing Mayorkas of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and a “breach of public trust.” Mayorkas, GOP lawmakers argue, has intentionally allowed the crisis at the border to continue.

But Democrats, a small number of House Republicans and legal experts across the political spectrum have long dismissed Republicans’ impeachment push. They say the GOP’s grievances with Mayorkas amount to nothing more than policy disagreements over how to handle the border and America’s immigration system. Impeaching him, they say, would set a dangerous precedent for future impeachments.

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