President Joe Biden blasted Republicans last Tuesday after the House voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying history would not look kindly on their “blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship.”
The two articles of impeachment passed the House by only one vote, 214-213, with three Republican lawmakers joining Democrats in opposing the measure.
The first article accused Mayorkas of deliberately releasing into the US illegal migrants who should have been detained. The second accused the secretary of obstructing congressional oversight and lying to Congress when he previously testified that DHS had “operational control” of the southern border.
In a statement following the February 13 vote, President Biden described Mayorkas as “an honorable public service” and Cuban immigrant who was targeted by Republicans playing “petty political games.”
Biden said Republicans should work to “deliver more border resources and stronger border security” rather than “staging political stunts like this.” He accused Republican lawmakers of “giving up on real solutions” to “play politics,” and argued that this was “not what the American people expect.”
Mayorkas is unlikely to face conviction in the Democrat-controlled Senate, especially since even some GOP senators have voiced concerns over pursuing the impeachment of a Cabinet Secretary.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly plans to begin the trial on February 26 after the Senate returns from recess, according to Schumer’s office. The Majority Leader has assigned Senate pro tempore Patty Murray to preside over the trial.
Even with the trial scheduled, some conservatives in the Senate fear that the Democrat majority is planning to kneecap the trial before the chamber can hold a vote.
CBS News reported on Tuesday that 13 Senate Republicans sent a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell this week warning that the Democrats intended to table the articles of impeachment after the trial begins.
The senators, including Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and J.D. Vance (R-OH), urged McConnell to help them ensure that the Senate would “fully engage our Constitutional duty and hold a trial.”
The Republicans warned that tabling the articles of impeachment before the Senate could hold a vote was “an action rarely contemplated and never taken” by the Senate in the nation’s history.
In a separate letter to Vice President Kamala Harris, Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) urged Harris, as president of the Senate, to preside over the trial instead of Senator Murray.
