Senate Democrats need only a simple majority to dismiss the House’s impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a move that appears likely.
The House voted Feb. 13 to impeach Mayorkas 214 to 213, with every Democrat voting no. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., hasn’t said whether he would act to dismiss the charges or table the two articles of impeachment.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said during a press conference Tuesday that a full Senate trial “would be the best way to go forward” when asked about his position on the Mayorkas impeachment.
The Daily Signal asked McConnell’s office whether the senator “thinks all Republican senators should vote against any potential motion to table the impeachment trial.”
The Daily Signal also asked what steps McConnell is “taking to encourage GOP members to oppose the motion to table” and whether he is doing anything “to prepare for the possibility of an impeachment trial.”
The Senate minority leader’s office responded by saying it had “Nothing else to add” to McConnell’s comment during the press conference.
McConnell is under pressure from some Senate colleagues to demand a full impeachment trial.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah; and 11 other GOP senators last week sent a letter to McConnell urging him to “ensure that the Senate conducts a proper trial” of Mayorkas after the House’s two articles of impeachment reach the Senate.
An additional six Republican senators have indicated to The Daily Signal that they support a full trial.
Democrats have been critical of the GOP effort to impeach Mayorkas. Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, called impeachment “a sham” in January. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said it was “a political stunt.”
The House’s impeachment of Mayorkas came after a nearly yearlong investigation of the DHS secretary led by Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.
The first article of impeachment alleges that Mayorkas failed to secure America’s borders and enforce immigration laws, instead executing policies that allow and incentivize illegal immigration. The second article contends that the homeland security secretary is in breach of the public trust and knowingly made false statements to Congress and the American people.
Schumer could refer the articles of impeachment to a Senate committee and allow the matter to die there. If he instead seeks to dismiss the matter altogether, the New York Democrat will need all 48 Senate Democrats and three independents to do so, unless one or more of the 49 Senate Republicans also opt against a trial.
The Senate won’t take any action on impeachment until the House delivers the two articles to the upper chamber. Reports indicate House leadership will wait until the current funding fight is resolved before walking the impeachment articles to the Senate.
Even if McConnell calls for a full trial and Schumer consents, it is unlikely that the necessary two-thirds of the Senate would vote to convict and remove Mayorkas. And if Democrats opt to dismiss the impeachment articles quickly, the border crisis still is expected to remain a hot-button issue as thousands of illegal aliens continue to cross the border daily.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection already has encountered more than 1.2 million illegal aliens on America’s borders and at ports of entry since the start of fiscal year 2024 on Oct. 1. This puts 2024 on track to be another record-breaking year for such encounters with illegal aliens.
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