Opinion | Impeach Him! No, Him! And Him, Too!

Just when you thought House Republicans couldn’t warp the impeachment process any more, here we are, watching them twist and stretch this weighty constitutional provision beyond all recognition — like some grimy wad of Silly Putty pulled from under Marjorie Taylor Greene’s sofa.

Opening a half-baked, highly partisan investigation into President Biden was a cheap stunt. But I’d argue that as House Republicans move forward with a floor vote to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, they are poised to drag the chamber down an even more tortured — and potentially damaging — path.

Yes, the Biden impeachment folly is built on a steaming pile of unsubstantiated charges and fever dreams sprung from the House’s conspiracy caucus. But, while desperate and dishonest, at least the effort claims offenses that, if true, would qualify as impeachable. It would indeed be a major scandal if a vice president abused his office — taking bribes, even — to enrich himself and his family. House Republicans have yet to produce evidence that Mr. Biden did anything of the sort. But if ever they do, it will be wild times for sure!

In targeting Mr. Mayorkas, Republican lawmakers aren’t really even bothering to pretend there are “high crimes and misdemeanors” at issue. The essence of their case is that the secretary has done a lousy job dealing with the influx of migrants across the southern border. They charge that he has repeatedly violated immigration-related laws, fueling the surge, and abused the public trust by lying to Congress about how insecure the border actually is.

Pretty much everyone recognizes that this is not really about Mr. Mayorkas — who, as a cabinet official, is responsible for carrying out the policy preferences of the president. Those policies, obviously, are what House Republicans are riled up about. By putting the secretary through an impeachment inquiry, Donald Trump’s congressional team is putting Mr. Biden’s border record on trial in the midst of a high-stakes presidential contest. It is a tawdry political ploy dressed up as a high-minded policy dispute. But — and I cannot stress this enough — even the highest-minded policy dispute is not grounds for impeachment.