First Thing: US House impeaches homeland security secretary

In a historic move the US House of Representatives voted to impeach Alejandro Mayorkas on explicitly political charges related to conditions at the southern border. Plus, the rise of romance novel bookstores

Good morning.

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday impeached Alejandro Mayorkas, Joe Biden's secretary of homeland security, on explicitly political charges related to conditions at the southern border. Mayorkas is the first to face such punishment in more than 150 years.

How did Mayorkas respond? He told NBC that Republicans' allegations against him were baseless", which was why he was not distracted by them. I'm focused on the work of the Department of Homeland Security. I'm inspired every single day by the remarkable work that 216,000 men and women in our department perform on behalf of the American public."

And Joe Biden? 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," the US president said.