There is enough support in the GOP-led House to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis, a top Republican said on Sunday.
Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) raised expectations when speaking to Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures” about what comes next after his panel held a secondimpeachment hearing last week.
“Right now, we are assembling articles of impeachment to present to our committee. We will mark those up in committee very shortly after getting back [the week of January 29]. And then, passing the committee, they will go to the floor for a vote on the floor,” Green said.
The chairman suggested a House floor vote could happen sometime after early February, noting that attendance is key as Republicans only have a slim majority in the chamber.
“One of our challenges is just the folks that are out for health issues right now, but once those individuals get back, I anticipate a very quick vote on the floor,” he said.
Looking ahead to when the proceedings do make it to the House floor, Green said “we have the votes” to impeach Mayorkas. But he was less bullish when pressed on whether Mayorkas will be out of the job.
“I certainly hope so, Maria,” he said. “Look, this guy has subverted the laws passed by Congress, ignoring a co-equal branch of government. It’s very clear the law says ‘shall detain.’ And Mayorkas has done everything not to detain. In fact, he’s created systems that — what he calls lawful parole, but it’s actually totally contradicting the Immigration and Nationality Act that was passed by this Congress.”
Democrats in the House have panned the impeachment proceedings as a “political stunt,” while the White House has gone as far as to claim the endeavor is “unconstitutional.”
Green emphasized that Congress writes laws while the executive branch puts them into action, a binary that the congressman argued Mayorkas is violating.
“If a Cabinet secretary doesn’t believe in those laws, he should run for Congress and come over here and change them. He shouldn’t, just like a king, do whatever he wants,” Green said. “And that’s basically what Mayorkas has done. And that’s why we’re going after this impeachment. It’s about the Constitution, Maria. It’s about the founding principles of our country, separation of power, an Executive Branch that executes and a Legislative Branch that writes the laws. He doesn’t get to write the laws or pick and choose.”
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