Schumer expected to move quickly to dismiss Mayorkas impeachment

Senate aides expect Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to quickly dismiss the impeachment charge against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after House impeachment managers present their charges next week. He said there was.

A Senate Republican aide said he expected Schumer to vote on a motion to dismiss and a motion to file charges.

Mr. Schumer could refer the matter to a special evidence committee, but Senate Democrats are concerned that doing so could help prove the two charges against Mr. Mayorkas. has slammed it as “bogus” and “ridiculous”.

A Senate Republican aide, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, said impeachment of Mr. Mayorkas would not take much time on the Senate floor.

“There will be no trial. I don’t think we will even get a resolution to decide the procedure,” the aide said.

The aide said Schumer plans to file a motion to dismiss or file the day after House impeachment managers formally submit their charges to the Senate on April 10.

A motion to dismiss or bring charges against Mr. Mayorkas only needs to pass with a simple majority. Democrats currently hold a 51-49 majority.

A vote to reject the articles of impeachment could gain Republican support, as several Republican senators have expressed skepticism about the strength of House Republicans’ case against Mayorkas.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Mr. Mayorkas appears to be “carrying out White House policy,” but she doesn’t know how to vote to serve on a jury in any trial. He declined to say anything about it.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) warned that a partisan battle over Mr. Mayorkas on the Senate floor would be a “detour from the important work that is going on.”

And Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) told CNN in February that he expected the charges against Mayorkas to be rejected.

“If there’s a policy difference, it’s with the president, not the secretary who reports directly to the president,” he said.

Schumer criticized the House’s impeachment effort, saying it failed to present any evidence that Mayorkas committed a high crime or misdemeanor, which is the standard for impeachment under the Constitution.

“There is no evidence that he has engaged in any activity or conduct that merits impeachment, and I think it is unreasonable,” he told reporters last month.

Sen. LaFonza Butler (D-Calif.) told reporters this week that he hoped the Senate would immediately dismiss the impeachment charges.

“Leader Schumer hasn’t been specific about how he intends to do this, but let me be clear: This is an impeachment to explore the issue,” she said.

“What I hope is that we can quickly dismiss this issue and get on with the business of the American people,” she added.

Even Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, the Senate’s most conservative Democrat, dismissed Mr. Mayorkas’ impeachment as “ridiculous” and said he “just wants it.”[s] To get rid of it as soon as possible. ”

Schumer’s office said only that the impeachment process is expected to last at least two days.

“As previously stated, after the House impeachment managers submit articles of impeachment to the Senate, senators will be sworn in as jurors in a trial the next day, presided over by Senate President pro tempore Patty Murray. ” Schumer’s office said in a statement.

In a letter, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House impeachment managers urged Schumer to hold a full trial on the Senate floor.

“We call on you to fulfill your constitutional obligation to hold this trial,” they wrote. “Introducing articles of impeachment without ever hearing arguments or considering the evidence would violate constitutional order and be an insult to the American people we all serve.”

Mayorkas’ removal from office would require a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate.

Senate Republican Leader John Thune (S.D.) called on Schumer to give House Republican prosecutors enough time to make their case on the floor.

“The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas committed an impeachable offense. This matter will now be considered by the United States Senate. I believe the Senate needs to conduct a trial,” Thune said weekly. The announcement was made at a press conference held by Senate Republican leaders.

But Thune predicted that “Democrats will try to dismiss it.”

Some Senate Republicans said Schumer could have referred the impeachment inquiry to a Senate special committee to consider the matter, which could have delayed a floor vote until after Election Day. It states that it was.

The same thing happened in 2010 when the Senate impeached Louisiana Judge Thomas Porteous.

This was the last time the Senate handled impeachment of a federal official below the office of president.

But the key difference between the case against Mr. Mayorkas and the case against Mr. Porteous 14 years ago is that Mr. Porteous faces a mountain of incriminating evidence, whereas now even some Republicans are against Mr. Mayorkas. I think the charges against him are weak.

The Senate ultimately voted 90-6 to convict Porteous.