Two San Joaquin Valley lawmakers play political game with Mayorkas impeachment | Opinion

When it comes to principle vs. politics in the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas, U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock got it right. History will give poor marks to Reps. David Valadao and John Duarte.

The congressmen represent different parts of the San Joaquin Valley — McClintock has the foothill communities from El Dorado Hills to Fresno; Valadao has big swaths of Kings, Kern and Tulare counties; and Duarte has the flat farming land from Modesto to Coalinga.

They are all Republicans, and the three have spoken against the Biden administration when it comes to border security.

But only McClintock had the courage and clear thinking to vote against the first impeachment brought against a Cabinet secretary in 148 years.

On Tuesday the GOP-led House of Representatives voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas over what Republicans said was his failure to follow immigration laws.

The measure passed by only one vote. Democrats unanimously opposed it. Three Republicans also voted against it — McClintock, Ken Buck of Colorado and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin. It was the second time in a week that the trio went against their party. Their belief was that impeachment needs to be reserved for “treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors,” as the nation’s founding fathers intended.

McClintock, like Valadao and Duarte, is running for re-election. But his seat is safely Republican, and he has easily won re-election in the most recent contests.

Valadao and Duarte, by contrast, are in races that national experts rate as toss-ups. Duarte’s election two years ago was the second-closest in the nation.

Political considerations, then, were what drove Valadao and Duarte in their votes, though they don’t see it that way.

Impeachment not only option

In a statement issued after Tuesday’s 214-213 vote, Valadao said “Secretary Mayorkas must be held accountable for refusing to comply with federal immigration laws.”

Duarte sounded a similar theme on Feb. 6, when the Republican majority in the House failed in its first attempt to pass the impeachment resolution. An investigation by the House Committee on Homeland Security, Duarte said then, “overwhelmingly points to Mayorkas’ refusal to comply with current federal immigration laws passed by Congress as the cause of the border crisis.”

But Congress has other avenues besides impeachment. Gallagher pointed out in an essay in the Wall Street Journal that Congress can authorize states to sue the federal government over failing to provide border security.

Then there is sheer criticism that Republicans can levy against the Biden administration in the court of public opinion. Elections are coming soon, after all.

McClintock stands on principles

McClintock rightly identified any failures of Mayorkas as those of Biden himself: “The border crisis can’t be fixed by replacing one left-wing official with another. It can only be fixed by the American people at the ballot box by replacing this administration with one committed to securing our borders, defending our country, and upholding the rule of law.”

McClintock said impeaching Mayorkas was a step the founding fathers would have roundly rejected. “They didn’t want political disputes to become impeachments, because that would shatter the separation of powers that vests the enforcement of the laws with the president — no matter how bad a job he does.

“Cabinet secretaries can’t serve two masters. They can be impeached for committing a crime relating to their office, but not for carrying out presidential policy.”

The differences Republicans have with Biden and Democrats over immigration and the border are over policy. They are not treason, bribery or crimes.

McClintock understands the distinctions and rightly seeks to keep the impeachment standard high. He laid it out in a 10-page memo to colleagues.

Valadao and Duarte, however, have lowered the bar for impeachment into the realm of politics. They calculate they have to do it to maintain support of their Republican voters. But they will regret it when Democrats file articles of impeachment against a Cabinet secretary in a Republican administration for thinly veiled reasons.

Thanks to House Republicans, that day will surely come.