Republicans are upping the pressure on colleagues in the Senate ahead of next week’s impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
House managers in the case will deliver the two articles of impeachment to the upper chamber on Wednesday, nearly two months since the lower chamber impeached Mayorkas.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who introduced impeachment articles against Mayorkas multiple times before House leadership moved on it, said she was proud to have led the impeachment, as it represented the only way to hold the Biden administration accountable for the “deadly border invasion.”
Two of Greene’s constituents were killed late last year when a human smuggler running from police crashed a vehicle into the Georgia residents as they were driving across South Texas.
“Schumer must hold the trial in the senate!” Greene wrote Thursday in a post to X.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) opened the pressure campaign Thursday with an op-ed that called on the Senate to hold a trial as questions remained over whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) would table the articles and shut down any further proceedings.
“The seriousness of the charges should compel the Senate to perform its constitutional duty, conduct a full impeachment trial, convict Secretary Mayorkas, and ultimately remove him from office,” Green wrote in the op-ed for Fox News.
Schumer sent his colleagues a letter on Friday that confirmed the Senate would receive the articles from the House on Wednesday when Mayorkas is also scheduled to appear on Capitol Hill for a pair of congressional hearings related to the DHS budget. Impeachment proceedings begin in earnest on Thursday.
“Please be advised that all Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the day after the articles are presented, and Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside,” Schumer wrote in the letter. “I remind Senators that your presence next week is essential.”
The House impeached Mayorkas on charges of refusing to enforce the law and a breach of public trust. More than 8 million non-U.S. citizens have been encountered attempting to enter the United States in the three years since President Joe Biden took office — the highest figure in any three-year period.
Rep. Dale Strong (R-AL) penned an op-ed Friday on why he believed Mayorkas was at fault.
“This is not a case of simple policy disagreements,” Strong wrote in an op-ed published by the Washington Examiner. “This is about Mayorkas’ intentional disregard of the laws passed by Congress. It is an affront to the Constitution and the rule of law.”
“Mayorkas’ mass parole schemes do nothing but incentivize more illegal immigration,” Strong said. “Nationwide encounters of inadmissible aliens at ports of entry increased over 100% from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2023. He knows the consequences of his unlawful actions yet continues to double down on them. … The Senate must follow through with a thorough trial.”
Some Senate Republicans have come out in support of their peers in the House, including Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), who called for a “full impeachment trial of Sec. Mayorkas” that would “provide transparency to the American people.”
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The Department of Homeland Security has maintained that House Republicans’ effort to investigate and impeach the Cabinet official is nothing more than an election-year political sham.
“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 spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said. “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. Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe.”
