Republicans in Congress suffered a humiliating sequence of setbacks on Tuesday on important components of their agenda, turning the Capitol right into a den of dysfunction that has left a number of main points, together with U.S. navy help to Ukraine and Israel, in limbo amid political feuding.
As Republicans within the Senate torpedoed a border deal that they had demanded, the bid by their counterparts within the House to question Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland safety secretary, collapsed amid Republican defections.
Then got here one final bruising blow. Minutes after Republicans fell one vote in need of impeaching Mr. Mayorkas — a punishment the celebration has promised its base ever since successful the bulk — the House defeated laws they put ahead to ship $17.6 billion in navy help to Israel. The measure fell to opposition from Democrats who referred to as it a cynical political ploy to undermine efforts to cross a broader overseas navy help invoice together with Ukraine. They had been joined by a clutch of hard-right Republicans, who opposed the measure as a result of the cash was not paired with spending cuts.
Taken collectively, the occasions that unfolded on Capitol Hill on Tuesday supplied a vivid portrait of congressional disarray instigated by Republicans, who’re bent on opposing President Biden at each flip however lack a big sufficient majority or the unity to work their will.
They have sought to kill bipartisan efforts to ship extra navy help to Ukraine and to forge a compromise to safe the border towards an inflow of migrants, proposing as an alternative to assist Israel solely and to push for the removing of Mr. Biden’s high immigration official. The back-to-back defeats on Tuesday confirmed that whereas they’re adept at thwarting motion on important points, they’re hard-pressed to handle any.
The paralysis left the destiny of help to Ukraine and Israel in peril, closing off what had been seen as the perfect remaining avenue on Capitol Hill for approval of important navy help to American allies. A broad measure that features each is anticipated to fail in a Senate take a look at vote on Wednesday, elevating rapid questions on whether or not Congress may salvage the emergency help bundle — and in that case, how.
And it amounted to a disastrous day for Speaker Mike Johnson roughly 100 days into his speakership, highlighting his razor-thin majority and the unwieldiness of his convention.
In an announcement, Mr. Johnson blamed Democrats for opposing the help to Israel, which he mentioned despatched a “rebuke to our closest ally in the Middle East at their time of great need.” He mentioned Republicans had solely unveiled an Israel help invoice devoid of spending cuts as “a major concession” given “the gravity of the situation.”
But he left the Capitol with out addressing what seemed to be a calamitous miscalculation on the impeachment vote, which had been little greater than a political train on condition that the Democratic-led Senate could be all however sure to acquit Mr. Mayorkas.
Instead of a present of Republican unity for impeaching Mr. Biden’s high immigration official, the vote devolved into a unprecedented scene of chaos on the House flooring that highlighted G.O.P. disarray, as leaders scrounged for the help to push by way of the costs towards Mr. Mayorkas however had been thwarted by their tiny majority.
They vowed to strive once more as quickly as Wednesday.
“House Republicans fully intend to bring Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas back to the floor when we have the votes for passage,” Raj Shah, a spokesman for Mr. Johnson, wrote on social media.
Tuesday’s failure underscored Republican divisions over the impeachment. Three G.O.P. lawmakers opposed the decision, warning that it will set a harmful precedent of impeaching administration officers for coverage variations.
In a dramatic denouement, Democrats introduced out Representative Al Green of Texas, nonetheless in a hospital robe from having undergone emergency surgical procedure, to vote towards the invoice after he had missed earlier votes. That deadlocked the tally, dooming the impeachment effort, which required a easy majority to cross.
Hard-right Republicans had been furious, and expressed bafflement that their leaders didn’t appear to know precisely what their vote rely could be on a significant vote.
“I would have thought that they would know that,” Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina mentioned. “It isn’t that hard.”
Mr. Norman laughed when requested how he may clarify the vote to his constituents.
“The conservative base is going have a real problem with this,” he mentioned. “And they should.”
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who has led the cost for impeaching Mr. Mayorkas, mentioned she anticipated House G.O.P. leaders to carry the vote once more in coming days after calling Representative Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the No. 2 Republican, again to Washington. Mr. Scalise had been away from the Capitol recovering from therapy for a number of myeloma.
Ms. Greene predicted that the Republicans who sunk the measure would “be hearing from their constituents.”
The dysfunction is ready to proceed on Wednesday within the Senate when Republicans are anticipated to dam a invoice tying a border compromise to help for Israel and Ukraine, after most of their members — even those that led the cost to barter it — turned towards the bundle that House Republicans refused to think about amid opposition from former President Donald J. Trump.
“Joe Biden will never enforce any new law and refuses to use the tools he already has today to end this crisis,” mentioned Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican. “I cannot vote for this bill. Americans will turn to the upcoming election to end the border crisis.”
Kayla Guo and Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.
