As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a narrow majority of voters say they favor impeaching him, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey.
House Republicans claim Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors for his handling of the southern border, and lawmakers could take the rare step of impeaching a Cabinet official for the first time in nearly 150 years.
A close vote is expected in the House on whether to impeach Mayorkas, who is accused of "willful and systemic refusal to comply" with immigration laws. Republicans can only lose three votes in their small majority if all lawmakers are present, and a handful of lawmakers have not indicated how they plan to vote, CNN reported.
House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., who has led the impeachment effort, has been meeting with some of the remaining GOP holdouts in the lead up to the vote, according to GOP sources, CNN reported.
Secretary Mayorkas, who faces impeachment Tuesday, has said, "Our borders are not open," The Washington Post reported.
"Nevertheless, Border Patrol counted almost 250,000 illegal crossings in December, an all-time high," the Post reported.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 52% of likely U.S. voters say they approve of the impeachment effort, including 36% who strongly approve. But 36% disapprove of impeaching Mayorkas, including 25% who strongly disapprove. Another 12% are not sure.
Republicans (73%) are more in favor of impeachment, 33% of Democrats favoring it, and 50% of unaffiliated voters saying they want Mayorkas impeached.
Republicans (79%) are significantly more likely than Democrats (33%) or unaffiliated voters (56%) to say illegal immigration is a very serious problem.
A favorable opinion of Mayorkas is held by 30% of voters, and 11% have a very favorable impression of the DHS secretary, with 42% viewing Mayorkas unfavorably, including 33% with a very unfavorable opinion. Just 29% answered "not sure," indicating low name recognition for the Cabinet secretary, Rasmussen noted.
Democrats are most likely to answer "not sure" on the favorability question.
Mayorkas' family fled to Florida after the Cuban revolution and later settled in California. Mayorkas is a lawyer.
The survey of 901 U.S. likely voters was conducted on Jan. 31-Feb. 1 and Feb. 4, by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.