The U.S. House voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, with the Republican majority determined to punish President Joe Biden's administration over its handling of the U.S-Mexico border after failing last week in a politically embarrassing setback.

The evening roll call proved tight, with Speaker Mike Johnson's threadbare Republican majority unable to handle many defectors or absences in the face of staunch Democratic opposition to impeaching Mayorkas, the first Cabinet secretary facing charges in nearly 150 years, AP wrote. 

In a historic rebuke, the House impeached Mayorkas 214-213.

With the return of Majority Leader Steve Scalise to bolster the Republicans' numbers after being away from Washington for cancer care and a Northeastern storm impacting some others, Republicans recouped — despite dissent from their own ranks.

Biden said in a statement released after the vote, "History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games."