OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
House Minority Leader and California Rep. Kevin McCarthy said that the impeachment of one of President Joe Biden’s top officials is a real possibility if Republicans take back the House in the Fall.
The leader made the comments about Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during a trip to the Southern border with other Congressional Republicans on Monday.
Mayorkas is set to testify before the House this week three times, on Wednesday and Thursday, The Hill reported.
“What’s more important than something that happened 15 months ago on a private conversation with about four other people is what’s happening here right now,” he said, in reference to leaked audio of his negative comments about former President Donald Trump after January 6, 2021.
“This is his moment in time to do his job. But at any time if someone is derelict in their job, there is always the option of impeaching somebody,” he said of the Homeland Security Secretary.
“But right now, he’s got 30 days. His first response to us should be, ‘We should not lift Title 42,’ ” he said. “They’re not prepared to protect, and we cannot sustain what will happen to this nation.”
On Monday a federal judge temporarily block the Biden administration from ending Title 42, a program that hastened deportations during the COVID pandemic.
“The Court discussed the Motion for Temporary Restraining Order [ECF No. 24] filed by Plaintiffs. For the reasons stated on the record, the Court announced its intent to grant the motion. The parties will confer regarding the specific terms to be contained in the Temporary Restraining Order and attempt to reach agreement,” Judge Robert Summerhays said, granting the motion of the more than 20 states who argued against ending the public health authority, CNN reported.
“We applaud the Court for approving our request for a Temporary Restraining Order to keep Title 42 in place,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. “The Biden administration cannot continue in flagrant disregard for existing laws and required administrative procedures.”
“In a lawsuit originally filed by Missouri, Louisiana, and Arizona, our Office just obtained a temporary restraining order to keep Title 42 in place. This is a huge victory for border security, but the fight continues on,” Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said.\
As for McCarthy, he and former President Trump appear to have a fine relationship even after the audio of his comments leaked.
The former president was said to not be furious, as many assumed he would be, with the minority leader after revelations that McCarthy talked negatively about him in private after the January 6, 2021 incident at the Capitol, The Washington Post reported.
McCarthy phoned Trump on Thursday night to discuss the revelations on the audio recordings and, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation, the former president assured him that everything was good between them.
In fact, The Post said, the sources said that Trump was “glad McCarthy didn’t follow through” with asking him to resign.
McCarthy spoke about the revelations on the audio recordings on Friday night.
“I’ve never asked the president to resign,” he said to reporters.
“I’ve never asked the president to resign, and I never thought he should resign. What I was asked on a phone call was about the process, the 25th amendment, if someone is impeached. We walked through ‘ifs, ands or buts.’ It was never in the process to ask President Trump to resign and especially after we learned Nancy Pelosi denied the national guard to be there to protect us all,” he said.
Kevin McCarthy said he spoke with Trump twice today: “What they said we did, we never did. I never asked President Trump to resign. What the book said is not true.” From @Bidar411 pic.twitter.com/WA4o0sUbeA
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) April 23, 2022
Thursday morning, The New York Times reported that the House GOP leader had considered calling on Trump to resign which led to McCarthy’s office issuing a blanket denial. But then, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow played an audio recording Thursday evening which led to doubts about the veracity of the California Republican’s claim.
“My gut tells me no,” McCarthy reportedly said during a private call with other GOP members in response to Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-Wyoming) question about whether Trump would resign, according to audio aired on MSNBC. “I am seriously thinking about having that conversation with him tonight. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of days. From what I know of him, I mean you guys all know him, too, do you think he’d ever back away?
“We know it’ll pass the House, I think there’s a chance it’ll pass the Senate even when he’s gone. And I think there are a lot of different ramifications for that. … The only discussion I would have with him is I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation that he should resign,” McCarthy added in reference to an impeachment referral.
McCarthy:I’ve had it with this guy pic.twitter.com/lweFNbb7Y9
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 22, 2022
“That would be my take, but I don’t think he would take it,” McCarthy said. “But I don’t know.”
