A House panel has scheduled a meeting to prepare articles of impeachment for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis.
The Homeland Security Committee picked 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, January 30, to hold a session to mark up articles of impeachment against the Biden administration official for “high crimes and misdemeanors” after releasing several interim reports and wrapping up hearings last week.
“Over the last year, the House Committee on Homeland Security conducted a comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders, holding 10 hearings, publishing six reports totaling roughly 400 pages, and conducting extensive interviews with chief patrol agents for the U.S. Border Patrol,” Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Our thorough and fair investigation exposed Secretary Mayorkas’ abuse of power and refusal to comply with the law. In November, 201 Democrats voted to refer articles of impeachment against the secretary to our Committee and, having completed impeachment hearings earlier this month, we plan to mark up those articles next week,” he added.
All sorts of political wrangling has permeated the effort, whether its Republicans disagreeing over whether to quickly try and impeach Mayorkas or follow “regular order,” or Democrats in the House panning the impeachment proceedings as a “political stunt.” The White House has gone as far as to claim the endeavor is “unconstitutional” while Mayorkas himself has been working with Senate negotiators on devising a border security deal coupled with aid for U.S. allies and clashed with the committee over giving testimony during the hearings.
“This unprecedented process, led by extremists, is harmful to the Department and its workforce and undercuts vital work across countless national security priorities,” the Homeland Security Department said in a recent memo about the impeachment effort that was sent to The Daily Wire and other members of the media. “Unlike those pursuing photo ops and politics, Secretary Mayorkas is working relentlessly to fix the problem by working with Republican and Democratic Senators to find common ground and real solutions.”
The memo added, “Members of Congress serious about addressing these challenges should oppose this baseless impeachment that is going nowhere and instead work with the Department to keep America safe by properly funding DHS’s vital missions and reforming our broken immigration laws.”
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There is a bipartisan appetite in the House for changing the status quo, even if there is disagreement on how to address the border crisis amid a surge in crossings and blue cities around the country getting overwhelmed with migrants. Fourteen House Democrats broke ranks and joined with most Republicans in voting to denounce the Biden administration’s “open-borders policies” last week. Green said over the weekend that he believes there will be enough support to ultimately impeach Mayorkas when it comes to a House floor vote.
“In the Committee’s impeachment hearings, members received testimony from top legal officials that detailed how Secretary Mayorkas has failed to uphold his oath of office, how his actions and decisions rise to the level of impeachable offenses, and how his misconduct is costing states across the country,” Green said in his statement on Wednesday.
“We also heard from Americans grieving the consequences of Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to comply with the law and his abuse of power, which has cost American families countless innocent lives,” the chairman continued. “This Committee has conducted extensive oversight and passed historic legislation to secure the border. However, the final remedy for dealing directly with Secretary Mayorkas’ willful and systemic disregard for the rule of law is impeachment. After three years of this crisis and a year of investigations and proceedings, we must move forward with accountability.”
