GOP talk of impeaching multiple Biden administration officials still fails to bear fruit

Upon reclaiming the majority in the House of Representatives last year, Republican lawmakers made waves with talk of impeaching a number of high-profile Biden administration officials, but thus far, none of their subsequent attempts -- or even their rhetoric -- have yet to bear fruit, as Just the News explains.

Notable Democrats who have continued to elude impeachment, despite promises of action from the GOP, include Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher Wray, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Mayorkas has been the subject of much impeachment talk in recent months, with Republican frustration over his handling of the southern border at the heart of his difficulties.

Underscoring the crisis situation at hand, a representative from the office of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) explained, “Since President Biden took office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has logged more than 5.4 million illegal border crossings, plus at least 1.5 million 'gotaways' – that is, border crossers who were detected by CBP technology, but who were never apprehended.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) expressed solidarity with those outraged by Mayorkas' poor job performance but suggested that impeachment might not be feasible in the near term.

“I mean, it's inexcusable what he's done. I believe he's committed impeachable offenses, but we only have so much time and resources to go after that,” Johnson said earlier this month.

Indeed, on Monday, the House effectively scuttled an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) to fulfill the pledge to impeach Mayorkas by referring her resolution to the Homeland Security Committee and stopping it from reaching the floor for a full vote, as The Hill noted.

With eight of her fellow Republicans voting to table her resolution, Greene voiced her exasperation, saying, “I cannot believe this, I'm outraged. I can assure you that Republican voters will be extremely angry that they've done this,” and hinting that her attempts to achieve the initial objective are not over.

When it comes to Garland, Republican lawmakers have suggested that impeachment is warranted due to the AG's involvement in approving a raid on former President Donald Trump's Florida estate and his handling of probes related to President Joe Biden's possession of classified documents and of his son Hunter Biden's tax affairs, among other things.

Though an impeachment resolution against Garland was introduced in January, no further progress has been made on the matter -- an irritatingly familiar pattern in the eyes of critics.

Greene's impeachment focus has not been trained only on Mayorkas, as she has also introduced a resolution targeting Wray for alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and also for what she believes is improper targeting of Biden's political enemies.

That resolution, however, has also failed to make it to the House floor for a vote, and it is unclear whether any movement on the issue is forthcoming.

Buttigieg, for his part, has been the subject of substantial criticism on a number of fronts, including what many viewed as his delayed response to the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment, his handling of numerous crises within the airline industry, and his emphasis on electric vehicle subsidies.

However, as has been the case with the other high-profile impeachments floated with great gusto by Republican members of Congress, such a process for Buttigieg has gotten no meaningful traction to date, and many remain skeptical if anyone within the administration will ever be held to formal account in this uniquely important way.