GOP’s AUSTIN OUSTER PUSH FACES HUGE HEADWINDS Republicans are outraged by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s secretive treatment of his prostate cancer diagnosis and surgery that landed him in the ICU – and plenty of Democrats are frustrated, too. But that doesn’t mean the House GOP will race to take up the Austin impeachment resolution that one of their own plans to release today. On paper, Rep. Matt Rosendale’s (R-Mont.) proposal to oust Austin from the Cabinet might look like a good opportunity for the party to exact accountability for the Pentagon chief’s attempt to hide his absence. In practice, though, the path to a House vote that recommends booting Austin is rocky … at best. There are three big reasons why: Tricky math in the House, the packed congressional to-do list and the cavernous divide between House and Senate Republicans. First, the math: It can’t be said enough that the GOP’s hold on the House majority is perilous right now. Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) won't be in Washington until next month due to cancer treatment, and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) is leaving office this month. Which means that any hot-button vote Republicans take up will teeter on a knife’s edge, particularly an Austin ouster that’s likely to unite Democrats. (Members of President Joe Biden’s party aren’t happy with Austin’s handling of his hospitalization, which he didn’t inform the White House of for days, but there’s a long way to go between displeasure and impeachment.) Here’s a tell on the math front, in fact — Rosendale didn’t introduce his articles of impeachment as privileged, which means they don’t have a fast track to the floor. And they’re likely to sit on ice until Congress can get more details. Next, the to-do list: The House GOP is already pursuing impeachment inquiries into the president and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a way to channel their fury over rising migration. Adding Austin to that list is no small matter when there’s also a partial shutdown to try to avert in just 10 days. What’s more likely than an impeachment trial are hefty hearings in both chambers digging into the communication breakdown while Austin was undergoing his medical procedure and then later returned to the hospital with complications. Lawmakers want more details on the decision-making behind Austin’s decision not to inform the White House that the Cabinet secretary was ill and unable to perform his duties for a period. Finally, the familiar House-Senate GOP split: House Republicans might be hungry for impeachments, but in the Democratic-controlled Senate, Republicans aren’t biting. If anything, they’re wary of trying to evict Austin before Congress can conduct thorough oversight. “Offering up articles of impeachment or even threatening him within hours and finding all this stuff out takes him off the hook in many respects, politically,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.). “It's not our job to impeach every Cabinet Secretary that we disagree with or that does something dumb ... I just don't know why we would make him a victim when he's so clearly a perpetrator,” Cramer added. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) sounded a similar note: “We have a constitutional test for impeachment. And bad judgment does not qualify under the Constitution. I think what he did was seriously inappropriate — going AWOL — but impeachment is not the right course.” Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R ) lamented, with dripping sarcasm, what she called a “knee-jerk” reaction from her colleagues to impeach Mayorkas and Austin: “Let's just impeach everybody and just have it done with it — the president, the vice president, all of the Cabinet members.” As Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) put it: “We have so many other things we need to spend time on.” That said, we’re hearing some Senate GOP calls for Austin’s resignation, including from leadership member Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.). Fun fact: Austin was already in the sights of the House GOP before this hospitalization debacle. Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) introduced a measure to oust Austin over his handling of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan back in August. With the ominous designation of H.Res. 666, it has also not gone anywhere. Speaking of Mayorkas’ impeachment and the to-do list: House Republicans hold their first hearing Wednesday in their push to recommend ousting him. The Senate GOP is also pretty skeptical of that effort. Conservative stalwart Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said Mayorkas “definitely hasn’t done his job” but questioned “where they can get the votes” in the House to impeach him. — Katherine Tully-McManus, with assists from Anthony Adragna, Burgess Everett and Ursula Perano GOOD EVENING! Welcome to Inside Congress, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Tuesday, Jan. 9, where even a quorum call is more fun than this.
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