Top Senate Republicans, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Whip John Thune (S.D.), on Tuesday urged the Senate to hold a full trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as requested by Senate conservatives. requested. .
Thune, who hopes to one day succeed McConnell as Republican leader, on Tuesday called on the Senate to hold a full trial on the House-passed impeachment charge against Mayorkas against McConnell.
“The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas committed an impeachable offense. This matter will now be considered by the U.S. Senate. We believe the Senate needs to hold a trial,” Thune said. The announcement was made at a press conference by Senate Republican leaders.
“I’m going to argue that there should be a trial in the United States Senate to determine whether these are impeachable offenses, and Democrats will try to dismiss that,” Thune said. said. Added.
Mr. McConnell later said he agreed with Mr. Thune that the Senate should hold a trial, although he did not appear to have a strong opinion on the issue earlier this month.
In response to a question about Mayorkas holding a full Senate session, he said, “I think that’s the best way to move forward.”
When asked about the impeachment charge passed by the House in a February 14 interview with The Hill, he did not express a strong opinion on the issue.
“It’s going to be up to Mr. Schumer as to how he’s going to handle it,” he said, referring to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York.
In recent days, Senate conservatives led by Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) have been pressuring Senate Republican leaders to move forward with a full trial of Mayorkas. is being applied.
Lee sent a letter to McConnell on February 20, saying, “I urge the Senate to conduct a proper trial and for all senators, Republican and Democratic, to rule on this matter when the Senate returns.” “guarantee.”
The letter includes Sen. Scott and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Eric Schmidt (R-Missouri), Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and Sen. J.D. Vance. (R-Ohio), signed by Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Ohio). (Kansas), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Ted Budd (RN.C.), Cynthia Lummis (R. Sens. (R-Wyo.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) argued that it is unacceptable for the Senate to vote to immediately dismiss the two impeachment charges.
“According to multiple staff accounts, Majority Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats intend to omit the articles of impeachment by simply tallying them separately,” they wrote. “This is an action rarely considered in the history of our republic and never taken by the United States Senate.”
Schumer declined Tuesday to say how he would respond to the impeachment charges.
“Look, as I said, the impeachment of Mr. Mayorkas is absurd. There is not one drop of evidence that would lead to an impeachment charge, and we will address it in the best way possible.”
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