In an attempt to remove Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas during the election year, House Republicans on Sunday published two articles of impeachment against him, claiming he has failed to oversee the US-Mexico border. Democrats and the agency expressed fury at the unusual action against a Cabinet member, seeing it as a politically motivated prank without the legal foundation to remove Mayorkas from office, according to the AP. Republicans claim Mayorkas committed "high crimes and misdemeanors" that include a "breach of the public trust" and a "willful and systematic failure to comply with the law" regarding immigration. They claim that "Congress's sole realistic choice" is impeachment.
There has only ever been one impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in American history, which happened to William Belknap, the war secretary under President Ulysses Grant, in 1876 due to bribery in government contracts. It is rare to go after an official for a policy disagreement—in this case, the allegation that Mayorkas is not following immigration regulations. Republicans have been pushing for Mayorkas' impeachment ever since they took over the House in 2023. According to the AP, their second impeachment effort—against President Biden and his son Hunter's financial dealings—has stalled. This Sunday's statement coincides with this development.
In an effort to get the articles of impeachment to the whole House, the Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee will vote on them on Tuesday. It just takes a majority to approve them, according to Speaker Mike Johnson, who has said that the House would vote on them as soon as feasible. If approved, the Senate would convene a trial and convict anybody with a two-thirds majority, a very implausible result in the Democratic-run Senate. Mayorkas has been in intense discussions with senators to seek a bipartisan agreement on border policy, for which he has received plaudits from Democrats, even as the House GOP attempts to remove him from office. The senior Democrat on the House committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said there was "no shred of proof of serious crimes or misdemeanors" in the GOP resolution.
There has only ever been one impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in American history, which happened to William Belknap, the war secretary under President Ulysses Grant, in 1876 due to bribery in government contracts. It is rare to go after an official for a policy disagreement—in this case, the allegation that Mayorkas is not following immigration regulations. Republicans have been pushing for Mayorkas' impeachment ever since they took over the House in 2023. According to the AP, their second impeachment effort—against President Biden and his son Hunter's financial dealings—has stalled. This Sunday's statement coincides with this development.
In an effort to get the articles of impeachment to the whole House, the Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee will vote on them on Tuesday. It just takes a majority to approve them, according to Speaker Mike Johnson, who has said that the House would vote on them as soon as feasible. If approved, the Senate would convene a trial and convict anybody with a two-thirds majority, a very implausible result in the Democratic-run Senate. Mayorkas has been in intense discussions with senators to seek a bipartisan agreement on border policy, for which he has received plaudits from Democrats, even as the House GOP attempts to remove him from office. The senior Democrat on the House committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, said there was "no shred of proof of serious crimes or misdemeanors" in the GOP resolution.
