McCarthy Renews Threat to Impeach Mayorkas
WASHINGTON — In a long-awaited speech about American elections, Vice President Joe Biden told the Democratic National Committee on Friday that he doesn’t have the votes to win a confirmation battle over a critical vote on Russia’s role in the 2016 election.
Citing the White House’s failure to produce documents showing whether President Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russia’s election interference, Biden said the party should be given the chance to replace Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in Congress. That would require Democrats to control the House and the Senate.
“In the end, the Democratic Party can’t afford to take any actions that benefit those who broke the rules, who broke the law and who are likely to do it again,” the vice president said.
Biden, who supports his party’s nominee to replace Wasserman Schultz, warned against allowing her to keep her House seat as the party’s chairwoman.
“I believe that any decision that is made by a member of Congress as to whether they should continue as chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus or not is a decision that should not be made by a member of Congress,” he said.
“If there is a vote on this, it should be decided by the people, not a member of Congress,” he said.
His remarks at the DNC were an unexpected but highly anticipated intervention in a Democratic Senate super-committee race that threatens to dominate the new Congress. The committee will consider whether the Russians were responsible for the interference in the presidential election that cost the Democratic Party seats in the House and governor’s mansions for the first time in decades.
The committee, with Republicans on one side and Democrats on the other, will take up the question late next year or early in 2017.
Democratic officials and outside groups, including Democracy for America, celebrated Biden’s speech as a potential victory for them.
“The party, under Joe Biden’s leadership, can and should regain the control of the House, the Senate and the White House that Democrats won and should retain,” said Scott Dworkin, the group’s executive director.
Biden, who has served in the Senate for 21 years, won his bid for vice president six years ago. The speech came as Senate Democrats had gathered to endorse Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, who is seeking a second term in the Senate.
Nelson had hoped to avoid a debate that has engulfed the Senate super-committee, which has been
