Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas was impeached by the House of Representatives.
A Cabinet secretary has not been impeached by the U.S. Congress since 1876.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office announced that Mayorkas’ impeachment trial will begin later this month.
“House impeachment managers plan to introduce articles of impeachment to the Senate after the national work period,” Schumer’s office said in a statement. “Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day, presided over by Senate President pro tempore Patty Murray.”
Tuesday night’s vote marked the second attempt by House Republicans to impeach Mayorkas. Republican lawmakers have targeted senior Biden officials over the ongoing migrant crisis at the U.S. southern border, accusing them of intentionally flaunting existing immigration laws and exacerbating the situation.
Mayor cuts $5 million from public services to deal with crisis, Denver schools overwhelmed by surge of immigrants
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been the subject of two House Republican-led impeachment votes. (Getty Images)
The 214-213 vote was always expected to be a close contest. Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment last week, with all House Democrats appearing to defend him, including Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who briefly left the hospital while recovering from surgery to vote. Ta.
Three Republicans also voted against the plan: Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). .
House fails to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, dealing big blow to Republicans
Each criticized Mr. Mayorkas’ handling of the border issue, but expressed reservations about whether it rose to the level of impeachment. McClintock warned that it could set a precedent for political impeachment that could hurt Republican officials in the future.
“Swapping one leftist for another is a pipe dream that will solve nothing, absolve Biden of responsibility, and extend unconstitutional impeachment that will come back to haunt the Republican Party someday,” McClintock said last week. It will become.”
Rep. Mike Gallagher was among the Republicans who voted against impeachment last week. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
But House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) dismissed concerns about precedent in comments to reporters hours before Tuesday’s vote.
“Mr. Mayorkas is an exceptional case in American history,” Johnson said, accusing Mayorkas of having done “more damage to our country than any other Cabinet member ever.”
He also mentioned the very likely scenario that impeachment goes nowhere in the Democratic-controlled Senate.
Here are the three House Republicans who undermined Mayorkas’ impeachment vote.
“I’ve said it many times, the House of Commons has a constitutional responsibility, probably second only to declaring war, and regardless of what other houses do, we will carry out ours,” Johnson said. We have to fulfill it.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson has made border issues a top priority during his tenure leading the House. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The House Homeland Security Committee approved two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. One accused him of “refusing to comply with federal immigration law” and the other accused him of violating “public trust.”
The Department of Homeland Security criticized House Republicans for holding a second impeachment vote against Mayorkas on Tuesday, citing comments from Republican lawmakers that the effort was a waste of time.
More than 40 members of Congress sign brief to assist Texas on immigration issues with Biden administration
“House Republicans’ baseless push to impeach Secretary Mayorkas has already failed once due to bipartisan opposition. We need to listen and stop wasting our time on this pointless and unconstitutional impeachment. Push forward with bipartisan legislation to fix broken immigration laws and provide necessary resources for border security. and will be spent on addressing the issue,” the ministry said.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said House Republicans “will go down in history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve serious challenges at our border.”
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas
“While Secretary Mayorkas was supporting a group of Republican and Democratic senators to develop a bipartisan solution to strengthen border security and ensure necessary resources for enforcement, House Republicans “We’ve wasted months on an unconstitutional impeachment that doesn’t warrant any legal action,” the spokesperson said.
“Without a single shred of evidence or sound constitutional basis, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have unfairly slandered a dedicated public servant who has served our country enforcing our laws for more than 20 years. Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue to work every day to keep Americans safe. ”
“History will never look kindly on this blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship by House Republicans targeting honorable public servants for petty political maneuvering,” President Biden said.
Click to get the FOX News app
“This impeachment has already been defeated by a bipartisan vote. Republicans, who have real concerns about the border, believe that instead of staging a political stunt like this, Congress should provide more border resources and a stronger We should want to provide border security.”
