Rep. Tom McClintock clapped back at Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for criticizing his vote against impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Ms. Greene said the California Republican is clearly “not paying attention” to what the American people want and he “needs to grow some courage and read the room.”
Mr. McClintock responded on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal.”
“Well, instead of reading the room, I’d suggest that maybe she read the Constitution she took an oath to support and defend,” he said.
“That Constitution very clearly lays out the grounds for impeachment. This dumbs down those grounds dramatically and would set a precedent that could be turned against the conservatives on the Supreme Court or a future Republican administration the moment the Democrats take control of the Congress,” Mr. McClintock said.
The House fell short Tuesday in its attempt to impeach Mr. Mayorkas, whom Republicans accused of violating immigration laws by not stemming the flow of illegal immigrants. Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, has long pushed for an impeachment vote.
Four Republicans joined with Democrats to tank the effort in a 214-216 vote. Mr. McClintock joined with fellow Republican Reps. Ken Buck of Colorado and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin in opposing impeachment. Another Republican, Rep. Blake Moore of Utah changed his vote to “no” before the vote closed.
Homeland Security spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said the “baseless impeachment should never have moved forward; it faces bipartisan opposition and legal experts resoundingly say it is unconstitutional.”
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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