February 14, 2024 12:18 PM UTC

"KenSNBC" Almost But Not Quite Helps Once Again

• 2 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

Yesterday, as readers are by now aware, the U.S. House succeeded in their second attempt at passing a resolution to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, by a 214-213 margin sending the resolution to certain death in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate. Last week’s attempt to pass the same resolution unexpectedly failed after Republicans tried and failed to exploit the absence of a Democratic member for medical reasons, but vowed immediately to try again this week. For the second time, retiring Rep. Ken Buck voted against impeaching Mayorkas, but with Majority Leader Steve Scalise back from his own medical leave the votes were in place.

Needless to say, Buck has been on the defensive with his fellow Republicans for his contrarian position on impeaching Mayorkas ever since his own flip-flop on the matter, a major goal of supporters of twice-impeached ex-President Donald Trump hoping to make Trump feel better by making impeachment meaningless. Responding to critics yesterday in the National Review, Buck tried to defend his vote while still doing his best to castigate President Joe Biden over the border crisis:

To be clear, our open southern border is a national-security vulnerability and an invitation for cartels to bring illicit drugs into our country. Women and children are being trafficked in and through our country because of the chaos that President Biden has unleashed at the border. The border mess was preventable, and President Biden and his key personnel, including Secretary Mayorkas, deserve full blame for the open border.

But the standard for impeachment is not a failed policy — no matter how reckless or unpopular it may be. The standard for impeachment, which the Constitution lays out in clear language, is “treason, bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Maladministration, incompetence, and a blatant disregard for the American people’s wishes are notably absent from the list…

Buck is right that impeachment is meant to be reserved for true high crimes and misdemeanors not policy disagreements, like abuse of power and inciting an insurrection–the charges against Donald Trump in his first and second impeachment. But then Buck suggests to conservative National Review readers that the real remedy to the border crisis will be electing Trump President next fall:

Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of Biden’s performance on border security: Sixty-eight percent disapprove of his immigration policies. This policy, in particular, imperils President Biden’s chances for reelection. Here again, the House GOP missed another check on an abusive executive: the American people’s voice in the upcoming elections…

Again, Buck isn’t wrong about the process–he’s just advocating the election of Trump as the solution, despite the fact that Trump is the reason immigration reform legislation hammered out in the U.S. Senate isn’t moving forward. Ken Buck’s metamorphosis from a hard-right ideologue into something more palatable to mainstream cable news has been plagued by contradictions like this one, in which he is forced to omit the most important factor driving his grievance it order to not be too disloyal.

Buck could admit that it is Republicans at Trump’s behest who have not only failed to solve the migrant crisis, but have chosen to let the crisis get worse in order to make immigration an issue in the 2024 elections. Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas is just another distraction from Republicans’ willful failure to work in good faith to address the problem.

That’s what we want to hear from Ken Buck. Anything less is just slightly repackaged misinformation.