With the ultimate minutes for the vote dwindling, the Home watched intently on Tuesday evening to see whether or not any extra Republicans would defect on the decision to question Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland safety secretary.
Three Home Republicans had already solid votes in opposition to impeaching Mr. Mayorkas, and primarily based on attendance on the earlier vote, the G.O.P. may afford no extra. The tally held regular, and it appeared the indictment that Republicans had promised their base for over a 12 months — accusing Mr. Mayorkas of refusing to adjust to the legislation and breaching the general public belief associated to a surge of migrants on the U.S. border with Mexico — may squeak by alongside occasion traces.
Then, like a scene out of a political thriller, Consultant Al Inexperienced, Democrat of Texas, appeared on the final second to solid a shock poll — from a wheelchair, sporting blue hospital clothes and tan socks. He voted no.
Mr. Inexperienced’s vote was decisive. It tied up the measure, 215 to 215, and handed a surprising defeat to Speaker Mike Johnson.
“I used to be decided to solid the vote lengthy earlier than — I had no concept how shut it was going to be,” Mr. Inexperienced mentioned in an interview on Tuesday evening from his hospital mattress, the place he had returned shortly after voting. “I didn’t come assuming that my vote was going to make a distinction. I got here as a result of it was private.”
It was a exceptional save by Mr. Inexperienced, who was recognized across the Capitol for repeatedly defying Democratic management to push for the impeachment of Donald J. Trump throughout his presidency. He had tried thrice to question Mr. Trump, and failed every time.
However on Tuesday evening, Mr. Inexperienced, who rushed to the Capitol after present process emergency stomach surgical procedure on Friday, delivered the ultimate blow, no less than for now, for partisan impeachment prices that Democrats and constitutional legislation consultants — together with a number of conservatives — have mentioned are primarily based on coverage disputes and never on the constitutional normal of excessive crimes and misdemeanors.
Mr. Inexperienced was nonetheless within the hospital on Tuesday recovering from surgical procedure when he realized the Home would vote on the impeachment prices in opposition to Mr. Mayorkas that evening. He spoke to his docs and phoned Consultant Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority chief, to let him know that he would take an Uber to the Capitol. Mr. Jeffries didn’t insist he make the vote, Mr. Inexperienced mentioned, however organized transportation for him.
“I needed to solid this vote as a result of it is a good, first rate man whose repute shouldn’t be besmirched,” Mr. Inexperienced mentioned of Mr. Mayorkas.
He went straight to the attending doctor’s workplace on the primary ground of the Capitol, the place his blood stress and temperature have been monitored. He insisted on being introduced up for the impeachment vote — “to not make a dramatic entrance,” he mentioned, however as a result of “this was a vote that was necessary to me.”
Whereas he was sitting on the Home ground, Mr. Inexperienced mentioned, Consultant David Scott, Democrat of Georgia, rotated to inform him he had tied the vote. “I hadn’t even given thought to what that meant,” Mr. Inexperienced mentioned.
Mr. Inexperienced didn’t solid a vote on an unrelated invoice instantly previous the impeachment decision, in what gave the impression to be an try to maintain Republicans guessing.
It appeared to work.
Consultant Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia and a vocal proponent of the drive for Mr. Mayorkas’s impeachment, accused Democrats of enjoying a “sport” and having Mr. Inexperienced withhold his earlier vote to lull Republicans right into a false sense of safety.
“They hid one in every of their members, ready to the final minute, watching to see our votes, attempting to throw us off on the numbers that we had versus the numbers they’d,” Ms. Greene informed reporters on the steps of the Capitol after the vote. “So, yeah, that was a technique at play tonight.”
Mr. Inexperienced denied timing his entrance to trick Republicans, explaining that he assumed that the vote can be tight however that Republicans would prevail since they’d chosen to deliver the decision onto the ground.
“Underneath the Pelosi faculty of politics, you don’t deliver it to the ground in the event you’re not going to move it,” Mr. Inexperienced mentioned, referring to Consultant Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California and the previous speaker.
Mr. Johnson, who stood on the dais with the gavel in his hand, held the vote open for a number of extra minutes, scrambling to discover a option to save the measure. Democrats repeatedly yelled, “Order!” and booed because the vote dragged on.
In the long run, Consultant Blake Moore of Utah, a member of the Republican management, flipped his vote to permit the occasion to deliver the decision up once more at a later time — when leaders hope they’ll have the votes.
“I’ve been blessed with good surgeons, and I’ll be right here for some time longer,” Mr. Inexperienced mentioned whereas hanging up the cellphone from his hospital mattress. “I’m going to take care now. I’m going to be a greater affected person.”
Catie Edmondson, Carl Hulse and Luke Broadwater contributed reporting.
