House panel advances Mayorkas impeachment 

Republicans introduced a resolution early Wednesday morning to fire Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, over the objections of Democrats who say the party doesn’t meet the standards for impeachment.

A tough party-line vote that lasted a full day late into the night solidified Republican plans to impeach a Cabinet member for only the second time in U.S. history, as promised by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). became. To vote on resolutions as soon as possible.

In proposing the article, Republicans accused Mayorkas of failing to detain all migrants who cross the border (a standard no administration has met to date) and held him personally responsible for fentanyl deaths. They criticized Mr. Mayorkas and attacked him for being the type of leader the planners envisioned. Elaborate the impeachment process.

“If your refusal to obey the law leads to the death of your fellow Americans, you are no longer fit to continue your job. You have betrayed the people’s trust. That’s why the Framers gave Congress the power of impeachment. We gave them,” Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said at the beginning of the hearing.

“Secretary Mayorkas is exactly the type of public servant that legislators feared.”

The Republican article of impeachment, unusual among the few cases in which impeachment has been used, accuses Mayorkas of a “willful and systematic refusal to abide by the law” and a “violation of the public trust.”

“We have two impeachments that are completely fabricated, unsubstantiated and have never been used before,” said Representative Dan Goldman of New York, who worked on former President Trump’s first impeachment staff. We are here based on the terms.”

“Never in the history of the United States has anyone been impeached for anything other than abuse of power outside of office.”

Mr. Mayorkas’ impeachment comes at a busy time of border battles.

A bipartisan group of senators is negotiating a border deal with the White House and Mayorkas that reportedly includes many key Republican priorities, but President Trump has Viewing this as a victory for President Biden, he is actively trying to increase the agreement.

House Republicans also oppose the deal, and Mayorkas continues to vote against him, even though it has little chance of gaining support in the Democratic-led Senate, where a two-thirds vote is needed for conviction. We are focusing on his impeachment.

During the hike, the debate went back and forth between accusations of “vengeful impeachment” and the need to address “fraudulent secretaries.”

Much of the Republican argument is based on the argument that Mr. Mayorkas has not complied with immigration laws that require him to detain immigrants, but that he has failed to detain enough people and that immigrants who cannot be detained The lawsuit alleges that Mayorkas was trampled upon by “paroling” him. Otherwise, you will be eligible for entry.

The claims come amid the Biden administration’s efforts to limit the use of detention and the reality that the country just doesn’t have enough beds to detain everyone who crosses the border.

Mayorkas’ enforcement priorities direct the detention of people deemed a threat to national security or public safety. And while the Biden administration has already detained or deported more immigrants than the Trump administration, in some cases asylum seekers have been allowed to enter the country while they pursue their claims.

The committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), said the complaint amounted to a Republican overrun of the court. The Supreme Court upheld enforcement priority in an 8-1 decision upholding Mayorkas’ exercise of discretion. make use of limited resources.

“It appears the Republicans are angry that they lost in court and are trying to re-try the case through impeachment,” Thompson said.

But Rep. Dan Bishop, RN.C., criticized the Biden administration for calling for fewer detention beds in the budget.

“When you reduce the demand for detention beds year after year, you’re creating an environment for them to accomplish what they want to do, and that’s preventing them from following the law,” he said. . He said.

The hearing similarly included a salvo over which party is responsible for inaction at the border.

“This is not political theater. What’s happening today is an attempt to rein in a rogue Cabinet secretary who has failed to enforce the law,” said Rep. Michael Guest (R-Mississippi). .

But Democrats focused on ongoing border talks as an example of undermining Republican claims that Mayorkas has failed to address border issues.

“Let no one forget the irony of the fact that Secretary Mayorkas has spent the last two-plus months negotiating a bill to address border issues with a bipartisan group of senators. They are trying to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security for neglecting his job while doing his job and negotiating legislation,” Goldman said.

He also cited a number of lawsuits filed by Republican states seeking to block Mr. Mayorkas’ policies on border control, including some that largely mirror Trump-era directives and others opposed by immigration groups. He pointed out that it had been

“Republicans have gone to court to block the implementation of policies that address the border problem. So you’re trying to impeach the administration saying you’re not working on the border problem, and your party isn’t working on the border problem. “You’re sabotaging and undermining this administration’s efforts to address the problem. Hypocrisy is just a petty thing,” Goldman said.

Mayorkas responded to the article’s allegations in a letter Monday morning, calling the effort full of “politically motivated accusations and personal attacks.”

“You claim that we have failed to enforce our immigration laws. That is false. We have presented Congress and committees with hours of testimony, thousands of documents, hundreds of briefings, and our has provided a great deal of information that is very clear about how it enforces its laws,” Mayorkas wrote.

He also noted that he has spent much of his career fighting drugs and fentanyl, both as a secretary and a former U.S. attorney.

Still, Rep. Tony Gonzalez (R-Texas) suggested that while there was little that could be done to stop his party from impeaching the secretary, the two parties might find a way to unite on immigration.

“This is what’s going to happen. The House is going to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, and there’s absolutely nothing anyone can do to stop it. It’s going to happen,” he said.

“What do we do after this? Are we going to talk about how to secure our borders, or are we going to keep blaming everything on others? I want to make sure that this border is secured in a way that protects everyone. I hope and believe we have the opportunity to do so. I look forward to working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to find solutions.”