House Republicans will not send articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate until next week amid growing concerns that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will end the trial before it begins. , it is possible that a trial could begin.
Taylor Halsey, press secretary for House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), said: “To give the Senate sufficient time to fulfill its constitutional obligations, the House plans to send articles of impeachment to the Senate next week. ” he said.
“There is no reason for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to conduct an impeachment trial.”
House Republicans impeached Mayorkas a second time in February after failing to get enough votes the first time for failing to enforce federal immigration laws and lying to Congress that the U.S. border was “secure.” did.
Prime Minister Johnson announced last week that the two papers were scheduled to be delivered to the Senate on Wednesday, but Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), said Democrats had rejected or tabled them. I hope the motion to stop passes.
“The timing of those deliveries is very unfortunate,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) told the Post on Tuesday morning when asked about the April 10 date set by the House speaker. .
“It should have been done earlier in the week to give Republicans time in the Senate to object to early consideration,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of pressure to erase that. I think that’s a real shame.”
“If we are serious about using impeachment to highlight the devastation on our southern border,” Johnson added of his House Republican colleagues, “the timing of the impeachment charge must be coordinated with Senate Republicans. It should have been adjusted accordingly,” he added. Then we can figure out what’s the best way to use this impeachment to get as many public hearings as possible. ”
By mid-afternoon Tuesday, other Republican senators were spreading the word that Mr. Johnson had agreed to hand over the articles next week.
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told reporters Tuesday that Senate Democrats’ attempt to prematurely end Mayorkas’ trial was “the most violent attack ever committed against the United States Senate.” It is an act and an act of violence against the institution of the Senate and its era.” – respecting a tradition dating back to November 2013, when Harry Reid nuked and deployed the nuclear option. ”
Lee was referring to the then-majority leader lowering the majority standard for judicial nominees to a simple majority rather than a two-thirds supermajority.
“I very much appreciate Chairman Johnson’s bold willingness to delay this,” Lee added. “We don’t want something like this to happen right before our members may be operating under the influence of jet fuel poisoning.”
Mr. McConnell said last week that he expected rival Mr. Schumer (D-N.Y.) to move against the article after he took the procedural oath to appoint senators as jurors.
Schumer, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security have all dismissed the process as a political stunt.
Mayorkas becomes the second cabinet member in U.S. history to be impeached.
In 1876, Secretary of War William Belknap resigned on the same day he was impeached for corruption. The Senate acquitted him at trial several months later.
