WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — House Republicans on Sunday released two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they call a security failure at the southern border. The move is seen by Democrats as a political stunt.
Republicans contend Mayorkas is guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors” that amount to a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on immigration and a “breach of the public trust.” Impeachment, they say, is “Congress’s only viable option.”
The DHS on Sunday issued a statement in support of Mayorkas while criticizing the GOP-led effort.
“This farce of an impeachment is a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws,” it read in part.
Top GOP figures have worked to impeach Mayorkas since taking control of the House in 2023.
Republicans have accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce the nation’s laws as a record number of migrants arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has criticized the impeachment effort as baseless. In a January 18 statement to NewsNation, DHS accused Republicans of playing politics and rushing to impeachment.
“You’re hurrying to adhere to an artificial timeline agreed in a backroom deal between Republican leadership who’s holding on by a thread in its most extreme MAGA members, said Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee.
“This isn’t a real impeachment,” he added. It’s a MAGA spectacle, paid for by American tax dollars for Republican political gain.”
The Republican-controlled House Homeland Security Committee is set to vote Tuesday on the articles of impeachment, aiming to send them to the full House for consideration. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said the House will move forward as soon as possible with a vote after that.
Passage requires only a House majority. The Senate would hold a trial, and a two-thirds vote is required for conviction, an exceedingly unlikely outcome in the Democratic-run Senate.
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