The GOP-led House took a step toward impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis early on Wednesday in the face of immense opposition by Democrats and the Biden administration.
Members of the Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines to advance two articles of impeachment, one that alleges Mayorkas has “willfully and systemically refused to comply with Federal immigration laws,” and another that claims the secretary “breached the public trust” by making false statements, “knowingly” obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, and made false statements to Congress.
The articles advanced out of committee at the end of a meeting that lasted roughly 15 hours as Democrats employed delaying tactics and proposed amendments that Republicans deemed to be political and unrelated to the impeachable offenses. Eventually, the GOP blocked Democrats from offering more amendments, and the articles were approved 18-15 shortly after 1 a.m. in Washington, D.C.
“I am proud of the Committee for advancing these historic articles,” Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a statement. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right thing, put aside the politics, and agree that before we can fix Secretary Mayorkas’ mess, Congress must finally hold this man accountable.”
A House floor debate and vote to impeach Mayorkas is expected to happen as early as next week. If successful, it would be the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached since 1876. But the GOP majority is contending with a tight margin and some doubts among the rank-and-file. The effort also faces long odds of achieving a conviction in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The Homeland Security panel announced an investigation into Mayorkas’ alleged dereliction of duty at the U.S.-Mexico border in June of last year amid growing dismay over the flow of migrants into the country and fentanyl poisonings fueled by drug trafficking. Despite a push by some members, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), to impeach Mayorkas quickly, the committee managed to conduct a methodical probe which led to several interim reports and hearings that wrapped up earlier this month.
Democrats in the House panned the impeachment proceedings as a “political stunt.” Still, there appears to be a bipartisan appetite for shaking up the status quo as 14 House Democrats recently broke ranks and joined with most Republicans in voting to denounce the Biden administration’s “open-borders policies” following a surge in crossings and blue cities getting overwhelmed with migrants.
The White House has gone as far as to claim the endeavor is “unconstitutional” and Mayorkas, who clashed with the panel over giving testimony during the probe, said the “false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”
Impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas played out as Senate negotiators worked to hash out a border deal — with the help of the homeland security secretary. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has indicated the agreement, which had not been released as of early Wednesday, would be “dead on arrival” in the House.
House Republicans are separately running a corruption-focused impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, who is running for re-election and could be facing off against former President Donald Trump in a 2020 rematch come November.
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