GOP rep suggests delaying August recess because 'we need to impeach the vice president'
Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing to rapidly consolidate support for her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, with President Joe Biden's blessing. Now, Republicans in Congress are hoping to throw a wrench in the works.
Politico reporter Olivia Beavers recently tweeted that Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tennessee) has already introduced articles of impeachment against Harris for "high crimes and misdemeanors." One article is for alleged "willful refusal to uphold the immigration laws," and another is for "breach of public trust."
When Beavers asked Ogles about the impending August recess when lawmakers are scheduled to be out of town for the next month, the Tennessee Republican pushed back, saying: "I have a problem with that. I think we have Appropriations bills to address and we need to impeach the vice president."
"If our work isn't done, why would we leave?" Ogles added.
Ogles' first article of impeachment appears to be in response to President Joe Biden putting Harris in charge of leading diplomatic efforts to determine the root causes of mass migration from Central America to the United States. Republicans misinterpreted this as Biden making Harris his administration's "border czar," which was never a title she held. However, if the GOP is attempting to suggest that the Southern border is Harris' responsibility, then Harris would have an opening to run on illegal border crossings dropping by roughly 40% since Biden issued an executive order clamping down on asylum applications.
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The second article of impeachment for "breach of public trust," which blames Harris for allegedly concealing Biden's cognitive health from the public and not invoking the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in order to usurp her boss. While Biden's performance in the June debate with former President Donald Trump was lackluster, he sought to distance himself from that with an hour-long solo press conference at the most recent NATO summit in which he answered complex questions on domestic and foreign policy.
It's unlikely that Ogles' impeachment effort will pick up steam, as impeachments of high-ranking members of an administration are typically preceded by public hearings and supported by a significant swath of lawmakers. And with the August recess less than two weeks away it's not likely that any hearings in the House Judiciary Committee to discuss Ogles' articles of impeachment will be scheduled.
Ogles' effort to impeach Harris over the Southern border is similar to Republicans' impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this year. However, even top Republican lawyer Jonathan Turley admitted his party had no standing to impeach a cabinet secretary over what amounted to a policy dispute. He instead encouraged Republicans to take their disagreements with Mayorkas and the Biden administration to the polls in November.
"There is no jurisdictional question for Mayorkas, but there is also no current evidence that he is corrupt or committed an impeachable offense," Turley wrote in January. "He can be legitimately accused of effectuating an open border policy, but that is a disagreement on policy that is traced to the President."
Republicans were unable to impeach Biden despite House Oversight Committee chairman James Comer (R-Kentucky's best efforts. Even after multiple public hearings, Comer failed to gin up enough support for his crusade against Biden, and the committee effectively scuttled its inquiry this spring.