WASHINGTON – after a weekly delayOn Tuesday afternoon, the House of Representatives sent in its articles impeachment Senate National Security Secretary v. Alejandro Mayorkas.
It is expected to be a very short trial in the upper house – one that could conclude by the end of the week. However, Senate Republicans, who are demanding a full trial, are fighting for it drag the process To focus on what they see as the failure of Majorcans to restrict migrant crossings and provide security southern border.
As was done for the two impeachments of Donald Trump, impeachment managers escorted a pair of articles from the House across the Rotunda and onto the Senate floor. The parade of 11 GOP impeachment managers or prosecutors was led by Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn. and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who authored the original Mallorca articles.
After House managers gathered in the well of the upper chamber before seated senators, Senate Sergeant-at-Arms Karen Gibson opened the impeachment trial: “Listen! You heard! You heard! All persons are ordered to remain silent under penalty of imprisonment while the House of Representatives presents the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas to the United States Senate.
Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash., is presiding over the hearing. He and all 99 other senators will be sworn in Wednesday afternoon. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has said the Senate will resolve the matter “quickly,” but it’s unclear how long the trial will last.
Senate Democrats, who control the chamber, are expected to come together and vote to reject or debate the issue and move on to other business, including the chamber’s need. update a critical spy tool before it ends on Friday. None of the 51 Democrats in the Senate said they supported impeachment of Mayorkas, and even several GOP senators said the impeachment was unwarranted.
“Impeachment should never be used to resolve a political disagreement; it would set a terrible precedent for Congress,” Schumer said in a speech on Monday. “Nevertheless, the plan of the Senate has not changed since last week. We are ready to go when the House of Representatives sends us articles. We want to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”
Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, had originally planned to send Mayorkas’ articles to the Senate floor on April 10, but Senate conservatives led by Mike Lee of Utah successfully lobbied the speaker to delay A move that averts a quick ouster by Democrats over the weekend as lawmakers prepare to leave Washington.
Biden’s top border official and the first Latino Mayorkas to head the Department of Homeland Security the second Cabinet Secretary in history – and the first since 1876 – was impeached by the House of Representatives. The Republicans’ first attempt to impeach him failed spectacularly on the House floor, but they succeeded in the second attempt, on February 13, with only one vote to spare; It voted 214-213, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in the no.
In two articles, House Republicans accused Majorca of “high crimes and misdemeanors” for failing to enforce immigration and border security laws, resulting in “millions” of undocumented immigrants illegally crossing into the United States each year; and for knowingly swearing to Congress.
Majorcas’ Democratic allies criticized the GOP’s impeachment as a politically motivated “fraud” that began months before the presidential election, arguing that Republican criticism of the DHS secretary amounts to policy differences rather than impeachable crimes. Some conservatives they argued against The impeachment of Mayorkas also considers this action inappropriate. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R.N.D., a Trump ally, called it “the worst, stupidest exercise and use of time.”
Johnson’s 11 House impeachment managers are a mix of senior Republicans and conservative hardliners.
In addition to Green and Greene, the other managers were Vice Chairman of the Homeland panel, Michael Guest of Mississippi; Texas Foreign Affairs Chairman Mike McCaul, formerly chairman of Homeland; Representative Andrew Garbarino of New York; Texas Representative August Pfluger; Florida Rep. Laurel Lee; Four conservative members of the Freedom Caucus: Representatives Andy Biggs of Arizona, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Ben Kline of Virginia, and Harriet Hageman of Wyoming.