The House of Representatives voted along bipartisan lines to condemn Vice President Kamala Harris’ handling of the U.S. southern border, the first piece of legislation targeting Harris since she became Democrats’ presumptive 2024 nominee.
Six Democrats joined all Republicans in voting for the measure, which passed 220-196.
Republicans have for years accused Harris of failing her job as “border czar” after President Biden handed her the task of mitigating the “root causes” of illegal immigration in 2021.
It’s quickly becoming the cornerstone of GOP-led attacks against Harris as she gears up for an expected head-to-head race with former President Trump. But the six moderate Democrats who voted to condemn Harris amount to a scathing rebuke of their party’s likely presidential candidate – despite dozens of left-wing lawmakers rushing to endorse her.
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U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris is being targeted in a new GOP resolution (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
During debate on the bill, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who’s leading the effort, accused Harris of overseeing “failed and dangerous policies as Joe Biden’s border czar that caused the most catastrophic border crisis in this nation’s history.”
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., similarly opened debate with, “We’ve been told that Vice President Harris’ job was to find the root causes of the crisis. Turns out to do so she could have just looked in the mirror.”
Democrats, however, accused Republicans of being openly political in their motivations.
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It’s being led by House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)
“Testing new campaign messaging is not a good use of the House’s time,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee.
Thompson called the bill a “second-rate attempt at election interference,” adding, “Perhaps it’s also an ethics violation, since my Republican colleagues are blatantly using House resources for campaign purposes. And like so much other campaign literature, this political resolution is premised on falsehoods and supported by cherry-picked statistics.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital, “The mainstream media can try to rewrite history all they want, but the American people know the truth and our House Republican majority will remind them. Kamala Harris is Biden’s border czar, and the unprecedented invasion at our borders is hers to own.”
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Rep. Bennie Thompson called the GOP bill ‘campaign messaging.’ (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Left-wing lawmakers opposing the resolution also argued that Harris’ mission to tackle the root causes of migration was not a directive to oversee border security and operations.
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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Republicans of “making up” the border czar title in his weekly press conference on Friday.
The resolution is the House’s last vote before Congress recesses for the month of August, to return after Labor Day.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.