Bridgewater, VA – The Republican party brought impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the House floor on Feb. 13.
The vote was in favor of impeachment, by a margin of just one vote. The impeachment will now be sent to the mostly Democrat controlled Senate. It is unlikely that the Senate will spend much time on the trial, and could even dismiss the case on a majority vote before either side argues their case.
Mayorkas is being accused of willful disregard for international immigration laws and breaching the public trust. Democrats argue that these accusations are not impeachable offenses.
The impeachment effort stems from House Republicans trying to hold the Biden administration more accountable on the border issues, which was a primary focus of the administration. Since the Biden administration started, there have been over 1 million migrants admitted to the United States according to Montoya-Galvez.
Several Republicans in the House stated that Mayorkas is not at the level of impeachment. Ken Buck, a Colorado Republican, stated, “The people that I’m talking to on the outside, the constitutional experts, former members agree that this just isn’t an impeachable offense.”
Other House Republicans were on the fence about the vote. Washington representative, Dan Newhouse, a House Republican lawmaker, stated, “I want to hear all the arguments for it. I understand that there is quite a groundswell of support for it, and I want to just understand it totally.”
Legal scholars and Constitutional experts also expressed their concerns for the charges being enough for impeachment. Ross Garber, a Tulane law professor, stated, “…at least as framed right now, the charges don’t rise to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor.”
Mayorkas is only the second cabinet member ever to be impeached. The last cabinet member impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap, almost 150 years ago. Belknap was charged with corruption concerning military trading posts during Ulysses S. Grant’s administration.
