Senate rejects Mayorkas impeachment articles
WASHINGTON – The Senate rejected both articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Wednesday, dismissing the charges against the top Biden administration official and bypassing a trial despite protests from Republican lawmakers.
The Senate first dismissed the article accusing Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” on a 51-48 vote. Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted “present,” splitting from her fellow Republicans. Then senators killed the second charge that Mayorkas oversaw a “breach of public trust,” in an 51-49 vote.
Republicans and Democrats agreed on one thing: It was a historic moment.
The Republican-led House voted to impeach Mayorkas in February by a count of 214-213, making him the second Cabinet secretary in American history to be impeached. (The first was nearly 150 years ago.) No Democrats supported the effort, and a few Republicans also voted against it.
It was always extremely unlikely that Mayorkas would be convicted. It would have required support from twothirds of the body, and all Democrats and several Republicans argued the charges were frivolous.
A group of ultraconservative senators tried to drag out the proceedings to make it as painful as possible for Democrats by setting up multiple procedural hurdles, such as calling to adjourn for several weeks. The efforts failed, with Republicans and Democrats alike visibly frustrated.
Democrats panned the Republican House’s effort as a misuse of impeachment powers that could undermine America’s system of checks and balances.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called the Mayorkas proceedings “the least legitimate, least substantive and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States,” saying, “The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.”
The Constitution sets “high crimes and misdemeanors” as the bar for impeaching an official.
Senate Republicans argued that Democrats were flouting precedent and making a major mistake by pushing to dismiss the trial before it even began. The House had passed articles of impeachment 21 times before Mayorkas, and the Senate had held a trial in all cases except one, in which the official resigned first.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., argued Wednesday that it was the Senate’s duty to at least consider the House’s charges.
“But instead, the more pressing question is whether our Democratic colleagues intend to let the Senate work its will at all,” he said. Failing to hold a trial “would mean running both from our fundamental responsibility and from the glaring truth of the record-breaking crisis at our southern border.”
Immigration has become a major issue in the presidential election this fall and has been in the congressional crosshairs for months.