Airline delays in Florida nearly prevented the Republican-controlled House from passing impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Floridian reported.
The first House impeachment vote on February 7 failed 214-216 after four Republicans joined every Democrat to vote against the measure.
Speaker Mike Johnson scheduled a second vote for Tuesday, February 13 when Majority Leader Steve Scalise would be back at the Capitol. Scalise missed the first vote as he was working remotely while undergoing cancer treatment.
But on the day of the second vote, Florida Reps. Lois Frankel, Brian Mast, and Maria Elvira Salazar were all stuck at Palm Beach International Airport, unable to get to Washington as their flights were delayed by over eight hours.
In a video posted on X from the airport, Brian Mast reiterated his support for impeaching Mayorkas, whom he said was not only “horrible at his job” but “willfully” refused to do it. He said Mayorkas had abandoned the trust of the people and deserved to be impeached.
Mast said while he was unable to return for the vote due to “mechanical failures on my flight,” Republicans still had enough votes in the House to impeach Mayorkas.
Toward the end of Mast’s video, Democrat Rep. Frankel could be seen in the background walking by.
Fortunately for the Republicans, the delay also meant Frankel wouldn’t be there to vote against impeachment.
In a statement shared on X, Rep. Frankel expressed frustration over missing the vote and reiterated that the Republicans were seeking to impeach Mayorkas without evidence of any wrongdoing. Describing the vote as a “shameful political stunt,” Frankel said that she would have voted against it just as she had the week before.
While she released no statement about missing the vote, Rep. Salazar told the Floridian that she would have voted to impeach.
In the end, the House approved the impeachment articles against Mayorkas in a 214-213 vote.
