On Sunday, House Republicans presented Alejandro Mayorkas with articles of impeachment, accusing him of a “breach of trust” and a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
Republicans are anticipated to advance the impeachment proposal along party lines in Tuesday’s vote in the Homeland Security Committee, which is helmed by Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.). The resolution was released before to the vote.
That would put the impeachment vote on the House agenda for the week of February 5, barring absences and the possibility that Republicans can win over a number of their colleagues who are still on the fence. The resolution would be an unusual and historic step if it were to pass the House, but it is almost certain that it will end without a conviction in the Senate. The last Cabinet official to be impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
The months-long inquiry into Mayorkas came to a close with the impeachment resolution. During some points last year, Republicans seemed to have lost interest in Mayorkas as they moved their attention to probing President Joe Biden. In an effort to lay the groundwork for an impeachment vote against Mayorkas, Republicans conducted two hearings this month that were pertinent to the matter.
“Top legal officials testified before the Committee’s impeachment hearings, demonstrating how Secretary Mayorkas has disregarded his oath of office, how his decisions and actions amount to impeachable offences, and how his misconduct is causing financial hardship for states nationwide,” Green stated in a statement announcing the committee’s decision.
According to Republicans, Mayorkas violated immigration laws, went above his power, and put public safety at danger in the first article because he refused to comply with the law. The second item is under the heading “breach of trust,” and it details the Republican Party’s accusations against him, including that he lied to lawmakers, obstructed congressional scrutiny, and stopped the building of the wall beside Mexico.
The articles do contain several well-trodden criticisms.
Regarding the question of whether the government has operational control of the border, Republicans have accused Mayorkas of lying to Congress for months. According to Mayorkas’s argument, no administration has achieved operational control in accordance with the legislative definition. In response to Republican accusations of obstruction, the department has begun holding public hearings, conducting interviews behind closed doors, and providing requested materials.
At the same time as the Senate is considering a bipartisan agreement to fund Ukraine, Taiwan, and Israel in exchange for stricter border controls, impeachment articles have been filed. Both Speaker Mike Johnson and former President Donald Trump have spoken out against the plan, with Johnson predicting that, depending on the details, it might be “dead on arrival” in the House.
The effort to remove Mayorkas from office has been met with scepticism and condemnation from Democrats, legal experts, and even some Republicans who feel they haven’t proven that Mayorkas committed a serious crime.
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the top Democrat on the panel, made a statement after Republicans released their impeachment articles on Sunday. He said that the Constitutional standard for impeachment—any real charge or even a shred of evidence of high crimes or misdemeanors—was conspicuously absent from the articles.
The DHS issued a four-page response to the publications in which it criticised the committee decision on Tuesday, describing it as “just more of the same political games” by the Republicans on the committee.
“This ridiculous attempt at impeachment is taking attention away from more important matters concerning national security and the steps that Congress ought to take to rectify our flawed immigration laws,” the document continued.