Two U.S. House Members Missed the Vote to Impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Due to Massive Flight Delays
3 min read
The recent events at the U.S. Capitol have been filled with political drama, as the House of Representatives took a historic vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. However, two members of Congress, Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) and Rep. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), missed the vote due to massive flight delays at Palm Beach International Airport.
Rep. Brian Mast, who had previously voted to impeach Mayorkas, shared a video from the airport, expressing his frustration and disappointment at missing the vote. “Not only is Secretary Mayorkas horrible at his job, he is willfully refusing to do it. Thankfully, despite mechanical failures on my flight, we still had enough votes to impeach him tonight. He has abandoned the trust of the American people, and he deserves to be impeached,” Mast wrote in a post on Twitter.
Mast also mentioned that there were other representatives from the area who were also delayed and would miss the vote. Rep. Lois Frankel, who had expected to vote against the impeachment, also confirmed the flight delay in a statement. “Unfortunately, my flight from Palm Beach to Washington was severely delayed today. I waited at the airport for eight hours, which caused me, along with a Republican colleague on the same flight, to miss the vote. Had I been present, I would have voted no, as I did last week,” Frankel said.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis, making him the first ever sitting U.S. Cabinet official to be impeached. However, the charges against Mayorkas now go to the Senate for a trial. It is expected that the Senate will receive the articles of impeachment from the House after returning to session on February 26.
The impeachment vote was the second attempt by House Republicans to impeach Mayorkas, as a previous vote had failed last week. Three House Republicans, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California, had broken ranks and voted against the impeachment. With a 219-212 majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had few votes to spare.
In a dramatic development during the first impeachment attempt, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, left the hospital bed where he was recovering from surgery to cast his “no” vote against Mayorkas’ impeachment. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, also switched his vote to “no” at the last minute, a procedural move to bring the resolution back to the floor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. She can be reached at danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
The flight delays at Palm Beach International Airport caused two U.S. House members, Rep. Brian Mast and Rep. Lois Frankel, to miss the historic vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Mast, who had previously voted to impeach Mayorkas, expressed his disappointment at missing the vote due to mechanical failures on his flight. Frankel, who had expected to vote against the impeachment, also confirmed the flight delay in a statement. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis, making him the first ever sitting U.S. Cabinet official to be impeached. The charges against Mayorkas now go to the Senate for a trial, but it is expected that the Senate will receive the articles of impeachment from the House after returning to session on February 26. The impeachment vote was the second attempt by House Republicans to impeach Mayorkas, as a previous vote had failed last week. Three House Republicans, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin, and Tom McClintock of California, had broken ranks and voted against the impeachment. With a 219-212 majority, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., had few votes to spare. In a dramatic development during the first impeachment attempt, Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, left the hospital bed where he was recovering from surgery to cast his “no” vote against Mayorkas’ impeachment. Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, also switched his vote to “no” at the last minute, a procedural move to bring the resolution back to the floor. Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. She can be reached at danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace.
