In a divided Congress, it turns out, COVID-19 remains a player.
The still lingering virus on Tuesday prevented San Gabriel Valley Rep. Judy Chu from casting her “no” vote on articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The result: A super-slim 214-213 win for Republicans, approving the articles, making it the first time since the Reconstruction era that a sitting presidential cabinet member has been impeached.
Chu, who represents a swath of Southern California’s San Gabriel Valley in the House, was greeted with a chorus of critics on social media after revealing why she could not attend the vote, which she called a “sham.”
“Unfortunately, I recently tested positive for COVID-19 and am isolating in accordance with CDC guidelines,” she said in a later afternoon post on X.
Had I been able to be on the House Floor tonight, I would have voted once again against the sham impeachment of @SecMayorkas. pic.twitter.com/1BThC3U2ep
— Judy Chu (@RepJudyChu) February 14, 2024
The virus, she said, prevented her from being on the House floor to join colleagues in what might have been a second block of the proposed articles, which allege that Mayorkas willfully and systematically” refused to enforce existing immigration laws and that he breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure.
That, they allege, meets the constitutional threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Mayorkas has denied the allegations, which failed as impeachment articles on their first floor vote last week. But on that vote, it was Republican Rep. Steve Scalise, battling cancer, who could not be on the floor. And given three Republican dissenters, Scalise’s absence led to an embarrassing defeat.
Those dissenters stood firm on their no votes on Tuesday. But Scalise returned from cancer care to cast a yes. And with Chu out, that reversed the outcome, meaning now the articles will go to the U.S. Senate,…
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