OAN’s Brooke Mallory
2:47 PM – Thursday, March 28, 2024
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) was notified in a letter on Thursday by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Republican impeachment managers that two impeachment accusations against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas will be brought before the Senate on April 10th.
Mayorkas is being charged by House Republicans with “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which include “his breach of the public trust and his willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law.”
This means that on Wednesday, following senators’ return to Washington following their two-week Easter holiday, the eagerly awaited charges will finally reach the upper chamber.
By taking this action, the Senate will be forced to consider the case—at least formally—and Schumer will then have to choose whether to hold a full trial on the Senate floor, vote to drop the accusations right away, or refer the case to a special evidentiary committee.
“We urge you to schedule a trial of the matter expeditiously,” Johnson stated in a letter also signed by House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas).
“The evidence on both charges is clear, comprehensive, and compelling, and the House’s solemn act to impeach the first sitting Cabinet official in American history demands timely action by the Senate,” they wrote.
In order to find Mayorkas guilty and remove him from office, the Senate must vote by a majority of two thirds on the allegations.
“If he cares about the Constitution and ending the devastation caused by Biden’s border catastrophe, Sen. Schumer will quickly schedule a full public trial and hear the arguments put forth by our impeachment managers,” Johnson said in a statement.
One week after an earlier vote on the House floor failed 214-216, the House narrowly voted on February 13th to impeach Mayorkas on two accusations (214-213). Three House Republicans, Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), and Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), voted against the charges alongside Democrats.
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) restated its prior declaration, referring to the action as a “baseless, unconstitutional impeachment.”
“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border,” DHS said in a statement.
“Without a shred of evidence or legitimate constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-Wash.) will preside over the chamber, and senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day, according to a statement released by Schumer’s office on Thursday. This is following the House impeachment managers’ presentation of the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
Senators then had the option of voting to send the matter to an evidentiary committee or to drop the accusations right away. Allowing the House impeachment managers to hold a full trial on the floor would be a third possibility.
In a letter published on Thursday, House Republicans responded to the complaints, asserting that Mayorkas “refused to comply with the requirements of immigration laws passed by Congress.”
“In fact, he directed, through a series of memoranda, [Homeland Security] employees to violate U.S. immigration laws,” they added. “Throughout his tenure, he has repeatedly lied to Congress and the American people about the scope of the crisis and his role in it.
“His unlawful actions are responsible for the historic crisis that has devastated communities throughout our country, from the smallest border town in Texas to New York City.”
Reps. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), Ben Cline (R-Va.), Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), and Laurel Lee (R-Fla.) also signed the letter.
“The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas has committed impeachable offenses. That issue will come before the United States Senate. I believe the Senate needs to hold a trial,” said Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) at the weekly Senate GOP leadership press conference.
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