Almost every Republican in the United States Senate has called for a full trial of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas on Feb. 13 following mounting concerns about national security and waves of illegal immigration at the United States-Mexico border.
On April 12, 43 Senate Republicans co-signed a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer imploring him to let the Senate “uphold its constitutional responsibility” and “properly adjudicate” the House’s impeachment vote.
“Since 2021, Secretary Mayorkas has abdicated control of America’s borders to a magnitude unparalleled in our Nation’s history,” the group wrote. “Our brave men and women at Customs and Border Protection have worked tirelessly to make our nation safer, yet with 7.5 million encounters since President Biden took office, our southern border is a national security disaster.”
The Republicans continued:Since 1797, twenty-one individuals have been impeached by the House of Representatives. Trials were held in every single instance, except once when an impeached judge resigned from office before trial commenced. Absent Secretary Mayorkas’ immediate resignation, this impeachment should remain faithful to Senatorial precedent.
In the face of the disaster that mounts daily at our southern border, and in communities across America, the House of Representatives has formally accused Alejandro Mayorkas of demeaning his office. The American people deserve to hear the evidence through a Senate trial in the Court of Impeachment.
Mayorkas is the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since War Secretary William Belknap, who served under President Ulysses S. Grant, in 1876. The House initially failed to secure enough support when three Republicans joined House Democrats in voting against the motion.
Two of those three House Republicans have since announced they will not seek reelection.
Senator John Kennedy of Lousiana said that Senate Democrats would “destroy Senate precedence” if they “table or dismiss” the charges against Mayorkas.
“They will regret it,” said Kennedy while addressing the chamber. “Senate Democrats, if they do that, will show the world that their proclamation about rule of law and protecting democracy are just tools of their own political experience and arrogance. Senate Democrats will let the American people know that they endorse the lawlessness and the misery the Biden administration’s broken border has brought to this country.”
Senator Katie Boyd Britt of Alabama, who delivered the Republican response to the latest State of the Union, said the Senate should “fulfill its constitutional charge and hold a proper trial in full view of the public.”
“Amid an unprecedented national security and humanitarian crisis at the border, it’s imperative that we get answers and accountability for the American people,” said Britt in a press release. “The Biden Administration cannot sweep the devastating consequences of its mass migration agenda under the rug.”
“Chuck Schumer wants to table Alejandro Mayorkas’s impeachment trial. He doesn’t want the media to cover the suffering and chaos occurring at the border,” said Senator Ted Cruz of Texas in a post on X. “He doesn’t want the American people to see the body bags that have piled up because of the Biden administration’s policies.”
In total, six Senate Republicans did not sign the letter. The Washington Examiner noted that at least three – Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Maine Senator Susan Collins, and Utah Senator Mitt Romney — have previously questioned if evidence proves Mayorkas committed “high crimes and misdemeanors.” It was not immediately clear why the remaining three Republicans – Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul – did not co-sign the letter.
