GOP Congressman Who Voted Against Impeaching Mayorkas Abruptly Announces Retirement

A Republican congressman who did not vote for the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week has suddenly announced that he is retiring.

“Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chair of the House Select Committee on China, said Saturday he will not seek reelection in November,” Axios reported.

“Gallagher is the fourth Republican committee chair to announce their retirement in 2024 and the second just this week,” the report noted, alluding to Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), announcing that she won’t be seeking re-election.

“The Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives,” Gallagher said in a statement.

“Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election.”

Gallagher’s retirement announcement comes just days after his controversial vote against impeaching DHS Secretary Mayorkas.

He has faced “significant backlash for his vote from allies of former President Trump — including threats of a primary challenge — for his vote,” Axios noted.

Four Republican Congressmen voted against a historic impeachment effort against Homeland Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, temporarily scuttling the effort to impeach the first Cabinet Secretary in over 150 years.

A 4th Republican Blake Moore (UT) flipped to No at the end. The reason he did it was NOT because he opposed it. It was so Republicans could bring up a Motion to Reconsider so they could bring the impeachment resolution back up again for a later vote.

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 6, 2024

Three of the GOP congressmen voted “no” straight up — Ken Buck of Colorado and Tom McClintock of California, and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin — but one Congressman actually flipped his vote from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ in order to raise the possibility of bringing back the impeachment resolution under a Motion to Reconsider: Blake Moore of Utah.

The final vote count was 216-214, thereby causing the vote to fail. Another Congressman, Steve Scalise of Louisiana, missed the vote due to cancer treatments.

The two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas: Refusal to Comply with the Law and Breach of Public Trust.

The Republican Party’s control of the House of Representatives prior to this week was already tenuous due to the abrupt departure of three Congressmen: Former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), and Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who was expelled by the House.

New York’s special election in the third district this month, following the ouster of George Santos from the House of Representatives, will also impact the race. It features a “Republican” candidate, Mazi Pilip, who was a registered Democrat.

As Ballotpedia notes, “The outcome of the election will help determine the balance of members in the U.S. House of Representatives. As of January 21, 2024, there were 219 Republicans and 213 Democrats in the House, giving Republicans a seven-member advantage with New York’s 3rd as one of three vacancies.”