House Speaker Mike Johnson Defends Push To Impeach Mayorkas

(USNewsMag.com) – Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson backed the efforts of a House committee to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas in a recent interview while also refusing to affirm the victory of President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, instead claiming clear violations of the Constitution took place.

Johnson appeared on CBS for a contentious interview where the host of “Face the Nation” grilled the House Speaker about his views on the 2020 election, specifically for circulating a legal brief that challenged the election outcome in multiple states. Margaret Brennan told Johnson that according to “CBS editorial standards,” the House Speaker’s actions make him “an election denier.”

Johnson replied that Biden was already “certified as the winner” and that the argument presented in court had to do with constitutional violations that took place during the election. The House Speaker then cited Section One of Article Two and told Brennan that “anyone can Google it and read it for themselves.” He claims that “in the run-up” to the election, the constitutional violations took place, although “not always in bad faith.”

Johnson also noted how a lot of states “changed their election laws” after the pandemic “in ways that violated” the “plain language” of Article Two, Section One. He said those “facts” and their argument were presented to the court, which was the “only vehicle” available to address the issues. Johnson the court “never directly addressed” the arguments.

The CBS host pressed the Speaker further, asserting that a former colleague of Johnson, Liz Cheney, accused the Speaker of playing “a destructive role” by convincing 125 other GOP Congress members “to sign on to an amicus brief” filled with false claims. Johnson dismissed the comment and said he doesn’t “spend much time” on addressing Cheney’s criticism.

Brennan also questioned Johnson about recent efforts by the House Committee on Homeland Security to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Johnson defended the impeachment, claiming Mayorkas was failing to do his job by enforcing the laws on immigration and must be held accountable.