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House Republicans impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas second time in a week
Razor-thin House impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sparks historic Senate trial, second time in the US history.
The House of Representatives impeached Alejandro Mayorkas, the secretary of homeland security, by a razor-thin margin of 214-213 on Tuesday. This was the second time in a week that Republicans tried to impeach him, and the second time in U.S. history that a Cabinet secretary faced such a fate.
Republicans, who gained control of the House after the 2022 midterms, accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce the law and protect the public trust amid a record-high number of illegal migrants crossing the southern border. Mayorkas, who took over the Department of Homeland Security in 2021, denied any wrongdoing and said he was following the Constitution.
The first impeachment attempt failed by a 214-216 vote last week, as three Republicans joined Democrats in defending Mayorkas. But House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, was determined to try again and scheduled another vote on Tuesday. Mayorkas, 64, now faces a Senate trial on two charges: willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust.
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However, the chances of removing Mayorkas from office are slim, as it would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, where Democrats have the majority. Many experts have dismissed the impeachment as a political stunt and a waste of time.
Biden's push for bipartisanship on immigration reform hits roadblock
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement in January, when the impeachment articles were first announced, saying that the effort was “a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws.”
The immigration system has been a longstanding challenge for successive administrations, as Congress has failed to pass any meaningful reform legislation.
Presidents have had to rely on their limited authority and resources to address the changing migration patterns and the humanitarian crisis at the border. This has been especially difficult for President Joe Biden and the DHS, who have faced unprecedented numbers of migrant encounters along the southwest border.
Biden tried to work with both parties in the Senate to reach a bipartisan agreement on border security and immigration reform, which could have been the most significant overhaul of the system in more than a decade and could have eased the pressure on local governments dealing with the influx of migrants.
House Republicans reject Biden's border deal
But the deal fell apart, as House Republicans refused to cooperate with Democrats, even after Biden promised to “shut down” the border once the legislation was passed.
Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer, a staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump who has criticized Biden’s border policies, said in a radio interview that a “border deal that actually reduced the flow of illegal immigration, that would be good for [Biden] politically," and predicted that Trump would persuade his party to reject any proposal.
Mayorkas made a final attempt to persuade the House Committee on Homeland Security, led by Republican Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, to drop the impeachment articles and focus on other issues, in a letter he wrote on Jan. 30.
“The problems with our broken and outdated immigration system are not new,” Mayorkas said in the letter, pointing out the backlog of immigration cases that accumulated during the Trump administration.
“Our immigration laws were simply not built for 21st century migration patterns.”
