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At a news conference with a group of Republican senators after the articles were delivered, the impeachment managers demanded that Schumer move forward with their case. Majority Democrats have said the GOP case against Mayorkas doesn’t rise to the “high crimes and misdemeanors” laid out as a bar for impeachment in the Constitution, and Schumer probably has enough votes to end the trial immediately if he decides to do so. While the Senate is obligated to hold a trial under the rules of impeachment once the charges are walked across the Capitol, the proceedings may not last long.
DHS praises dismissal of impeachment articles
For the Democrats, Vice President Kamala Harris has been leading the administration’s attempt to address the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. With Democrats in the majority in the Senate, they would have little chance of passing legislation on their own but they could begin hearings and investigations and try to magnify any real or perceived failures of the Biden administration. Republicans needed a net gain of five seats in the House to achieve the 218-seat majority and a net gain of one to seize control of the Senate. The Senate has been in Democratic hands because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote, in what has been one of the longest stretches of a split Senate in modern times. Republicans in both chambers are eager to put the issue of border security front and center during this election year. President Biden's handling of the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border remains a weak spot politically for him, according to recent public opinion polls.
Hearing on Impeachment Resolution Against Secretary Mayorkas, Part 1
Senators are voting on Sen. Ted Cruz's motion to move into closed session so they can debate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., just spoke and said that senators know that they are obligated to take the impeachment trial process seriously. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., then raised a motion to declare the second article of impeachment unconstitutional as well. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, raised another motion to bring the Senate into closed session to allow senators to debate the articles. House Republican leadership released a statement accusing the Senate of "ignoring its constitutional duty to hold a trial." The White House praised Democrats for dismissing the impeachment."Once and for all, the Senate has rightly voted down this baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional," spokesperson Ian Sams said.
Hearing on Impeachment Resolution Against Secretary Mayorkas, Part 2
The hearing comes after House leaders last year stalled an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to force a vote on impeaching Mayorkas. The Georgia Republican pulled her impeachment resolution after she said she received assurances from House leaders that her earlier effort would move forward at the committee level. House Republicans argue that Mayorkas has failed to perform his duties and neglected to act in accordance with laws passed by Congress. The impeachment push also comes as the GOP has made border security a central theme ahead of the 2024 elections, seeking to capitalize on the issue after an unprecedented number of migrants crossed the southern border at the end of last year. On Tuesday afternoon, the 11 House Republicans named to prosecute the case against Mayorkas made the ceremonial walk across the U.S.
Impeached Homeland Security secretary navigates working with Republicans who want him out
During the hearing, two mothers recounted stories about their children, who they said died in part because of what they see as failures by the Department of Homeland Security and its management of the southern border. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the highest-ranking Democrat on the committee, disputed Green's claim, calling it "misinformation," while arguing that the committee's minority should be able to schedule their own hearing to give Mayorkas the ability to appear.
Inside the Senate chamber ...
Mayorkas Impeachment Vote: Republican Impeachment of Mayorkas Fails - The New York Times
Mayorkas Impeachment Vote: Republican Impeachment of Mayorkas Fails.
Posted: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
"If we allowed that to happen, it would set a disastrous precedent for Congress," he said. "Anytime the House would want to just shut the Senate down, they could send over another impeachment resolution." Constitutional scholars, including conservative legal experts, have said the Republicans’ impeachment case is deeply flawed and weakens Congress’s most powerful tool for holding despots and delinquents to account. But Republicans pushed ahead, arguing that Mayorkas’s handling of the southern border warranted a historic rebuke. Among the cast of characters testifying Tuesday was a Michigan mom who spoke about the fentanyl-related deaths of her two sons. Rebecca Kiessling’s story was compelling, and one with which many parents can sympathize.
In stunner, House GOP bid to impeach Mayorkas fails - The Hill
In stunner, House GOP bid to impeach Mayorkas fails.
Posted: Tue, 06 Feb 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
The committee's action sets up a formal vote to impeach Mayorkas in the full House, which will come next week, according to Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La. After the Senate convened as a court of impeachment, Schumer offered his plan to hold votes to dismiss the two articles of impeachment after limited debate. Senator Eric Schmitt, a Republican from Missouri, immediately objected to Schumer’s proposal and accused the Democratic leader of “setting our constitution ablaze” by seeking to dispense with the charges against Mayorkas.
The next vote could be on Schumer's point of order, which could kill first article of impeachment
Negotiations were underway between the two parties over whether Schumer may allow that time and give senators in both parties a chance to discuss the impeachment before it is dismissed. Michael Chertoff, a homeland security secretary in the administration of President George W. Bush, and constitutional scholars have also argued in recent days that the GOP investigation has not hit the threshold of impeachment. Ahead of the hearing, House Republicans and DHS clashed over whether Mayorkas will appear in person during the impeachment proceedings. Republicans wanted Mayorkas to attend this week's hearing, but he declined, citing a conflicting meeting with Mexican officials about border enforcement. The secretary agreed to testify, but asked to coordinate a time that works for his schedule.
But Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, delayed the transfer of the articles for several weeks, initially to allow the chambers more time to complete work on government funding legislation. Upon returning from a two-week recess, the House speaker again postponed the transfer at the request of Senate Republicans, who requested more time to prepare. Democrats cast the impeachment effort as election-year political theater designed to draw attention to the situation at the border, one of the president’s biggest liabilities. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has made immigration the centerpiece of his campaign for the White House. "After decades of Congressional inaction on our broken immigration laws, Secretary Mayorkas and a bipartisan group of Senators are working hard to try and find real solutions to address these challenges," the DHS memo said. "Instead of working in a bipartisan way to fix our broken immigration laws, the House Majority is wasting time on baseless and pointless political attacks by trying to impeach Secretary Mayorkas."
The last time that happened was in 1876, when the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap over kickbacks in government contracts. A band of conservatives, led by Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, plans to throw up procedural roadblocks, try to delay the issue and put the spotlight on Democrats’ refusal to conduct a trial and hold Mayorkas accountable for what they view as his failure to secure the southern border. “He’s going to say that this is— the allegation did not constitute high crimes or misdemeanors and it shows that it’s just a policy dispute. The House impeached Mayorkas in February, with all but three Republicans voting in favor. That made him just the second Cabinet member in U.S. history to be impeached and the first since 1876. Senators will remain in their seats for the trial and will vote from their seats.
Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, the Republican chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said the vote holds Mayorkas accountable and called on the Senate "to do the right thing and remove Secretary Mayorkas from office following a thorough trial." As House Republicans aim to garner enough support to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday evening, eyes will also be on the special election in case the resolution to impeach is delayed. If a Democrat wins, then the GOP majority in the House will reduce further. The resolution failed last week in an embarrassing defeat, with three House Republicans voting against it. But GOP leaders are confident they’ll have enough support when Scalise — who has been out receiving treatments for cancer — comes back.
Republicans are still deliberating over their next steps while Democrats have set up the next vote to be on Schumer’s point of order. If passed, that would kill the first impeachment article, Schumer's office said. Lee argued that the second article of impeachment is more serious than the first, noting that it charges Mayorkas with lying to Congress about security at the border. "If this is not a high crime and misdemeanor, what is? If this is not impeachable, what is?" he said. Having been in that chamber for both Trump impeachment trials and now this, senators are definitely fiddling around more. Several of them appear bored, and senators are laughing and being sillier more than they were in that setting.
Victory for Republican Mazi Pilip, a largely unknown county legislator from Great Neck, would signal the potential for more GOP gains across the country — and provide some comfort to a slate of freshmen GOP House members from New York who will be defending their seats in November. Even Republicans acknowledged that Democrats waiting to reveal Green’s presence was well played. The House GOP’s renewed attempt to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night hinges on the potential absences in the chamber. If approved, Mayorkas would become the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in nearly 150 years.
Mayorkas has been part of talks between the White House and a small bipartisan group of senators who have been negotiating a potential deal on immigration policy and border security. Some Republicans voiced doubt about impeachment at the time, saying Mayorkas' actions did not amount to impeachable offenses. Others said they wanted to wait for the committee's investigation to be completed before holding an impeachment vote.
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