Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas narrowly avoided impeachment Tuesday, as the vote to oust him failed by a vote of 216-214.
It had been 215-215, but a Utah congressman switched his vote from “yes” to “no” in the last moments before voting closed.
Rep. Blake Moore, who was recently elected as vice chair of the House Republican Conference, switched his vote to join three other Republicans who voted no on the impeachment articles — Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Tom McClintock, R-Calif.; and Ken Buck, R-Colo.
But Moore’s reason for voting “no” was different from the other GOP congressmen.
“Congressman Moore changed his vote from ‘yes’ to ‘no’ as a procedural move so that House Republicans could bring the impeachment resolution up for another vote. As shown by his initial ‘yes’ vote, he is supportive of impeachment,” a spokeswoman for Moore’s office told the Deseret News.
After House leaders saw the vote would not go their way — since a tie vote is technically a loss — Moore switched his vote so that he can “ move to reconsider ” the resolution at a future date.