House lawmakers rejected a resolution on Tuesday to bring articles of impeachment against Mayorkas for willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law, in a vote of 214 in favor and 216 opposed.
"As the Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas has one core obligation: To protect our homeland. Unfortunately, throughout his tenure, Secretary Mayorkas has failed miserably at his job of keeping our country safe and our border secure," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said in a statement on the resolution.
Republican Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna in a statement after the failed vote said there will be another impeachment vote on Mayorkas next week, which should likely pass.
The impeachment effort comes amid an increase in illegal immigration at the US southern border under the Biden administration. US Senate negotiators released a supplemental funding bill that attached Ukraine and Israel aid to immigration reforms on Sunday; however, House Speaker Mike Johnson said the bill would be "dead on arrival" in the House of Representatives.