After failing on an earlier vote, House Republicans successfully impeached the DHS secretary—first cabinet official to be impeached in around 150 years.

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas on Feb. 18 became only the second presidential cabinet member ever to be impeached in the 236-year history of the United States government.

Mr. Mayorkas, who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Democratic Senate in 2021, was impeached on two counts by a vote of 214-213 with all but three Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats opposing the action. Former Secretary of War George Belknap resigned in 1876 after the House passed five counts of impeachment against him. The Senate failed to convict Belknap, who was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant.

The House action came almost exactly a week after the lower chamber of Congress failed to impeach the embattled Homeland Security Secretary on a 215-215 vote. That tally was updated to 216 against and 214 for when Rep. Blake Moore (R-Utah) changed his Aye to a Nay in a parliamentary move to enable the House to reconsider the impeachment resolution.

Three Republicans who opposed the impeachment resolution last week voted the same the second time around. The trio includes Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Rep. Tom McLintock of California.

Earlier Tuesday before the vote, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) media office released a lengthy statement condemning the House Republicans for pursuing “a baseless push” for a “pointless, unconstitutional impeachment.” The statement then quoted Mr. Buck and Mr. McLintock contending Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security HCHS) failed to produce evidence of “impeachable crimes.”

The statement also quoted Mr. Gallagher justifying his opposition by saying, “Creating a new, lower standard for impeachment, one without any clear limiting principle, wouldn’t secure the border or hold Mr. Biden accountable. It would only pry open the Pandora’s box of perpetual impeachment.”

The statement continued, saying, “While House Republicans waste time with political games, Secretary Mayorkas is enforcing our laws and working to keep America safe. Members of Congress serious about those efforts should work with the Administration by fixing our nation’s broken immigration laws and properly resourcing the Department’s vital missions instead of facilitating this farce of an impeachment.”

The 20-page Impeachment Resolution contained two articles with multiple examples of laws Mr. Mayorkas is alleged to have ignored or refused to enforce and illustrations of his blocking congressional oversight, including not producing requested copies of documents.

Article I of the measure accuses Mr. Mayorkas of a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and claims that “in large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States.”

“His refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country,” it reads.

Article II accuses Mr. Mayorkas of breaching the public trust by having “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”

With House passage of the impeachment resolution, the issue now goes to the Senate, which will convene as a trial to hear presentations by 11 House managers appointed by the House Speaker and defenses by attorneys representing Mr. Mayorkas.

The House managers, all Republicans, will include Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, who is chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Rep. Ben Cline of Virginia, Rep. Michael Guest of Mississippi, Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York, Rep. August Pfluger of Texas, Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Rep. Laurel Lee of Florida.