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The thing that we can do is we can investigate, and then that investigation could lead to an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy told CNN, adding it could “rise to that occasion” of an impeachment if Mayorkas is found to be “derelict” in his duties. Indeed, Republicans from swing districts are urging their colleagues to not rush into impeachment, which would be dead-on-arrival in the Senate and could turn the American people off if the party is perceived as overreaching. With no signs that Mayorkas is stepping aside, House Republicans are signaling they’re prepared to move ahead, even as a bevy of members are uneasy about the approach.
The Senate's role in impeachments
The indictment quotes from the 2022 appeals court ruling that was eventually challenged before the Supreme Court, which ruled 8 to 1 last year that the states lacked the standing to challenge Mr. Mayorkas's policy. Republicans’ central accusation against Mr. Mayorkas is that he failed to enforce the laws he is charged with implementing. It is an unusual use of the impeachment power, which in the past has been used against presidents or officials who are accused of offenses. Examples include the charge against former President Donald J. Trump for inciting insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021, or those against Mr. Belknap, who was found to have accepted kickbacks, among other corrupt actions. "That should come as no surprise because Republicans' so-called 'investigation' of Secretary Mayorkas has been a remarkably fact-free affair," Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrats on the Homeland Security Committee, said in a statement. "They are abusing Congress' impeachment power to appease their MAGA members, score political points, and deflect Americans' attention from their do-nothing Congress."
GOP Sen. Graham almost accidentally voted with Democrats on second article
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham almost sided with the Democrats on the vote to kill the second article of impeachment — before he caught himself, to laughs in the chamber. The pair of votes, which split along partisan lines, swiftly killed a Senate trial that had only just begun, with Democrats and three independents voting to stop the process. The Senate ended the impeachment case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, bypassing with procedural votes the first attempt by Congress to oust a Cabinet secretary in more than a century and a half. Republicans have accused Mr. Mayorkas of promoting in a series of public appearance a narrative that Border Patrol agents whipped migrants trying to cross the Texas border, though a review of the episode found thatwhipping had not occurred. Republicans have highlighted episodes of the department reassigning federal officials to assist with border processing to charge that Mr. Mayorkas is intentionally leaving the country exposed to danger. Democrats have argued that it is evidence the department needs more resources to hire adequate personnel to deal with the migrant surges.
Mayorkas impeachment trial: What to expect in the Senate - ABC News
Mayorkas impeachment trial: What to expect in the Senate.
Posted: Tue, 16 Apr 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]
To pass Ukraine aid, 'Reagan Republican' leaders in Congress navigated a party transformed by Trump
Republicans argue that the administration cannot guarantee that migrants, once released,show up again for their court dates or comply with removal orders. There is little argument that Mr. Mayorkas has presided over the unlawful entry into the United States of millions of migrants who have been allowed to stay in the country without authorization. Republicans argue that it does, while many of the conservative legal scholars who have criticized this impeachment say it does not.
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If the Senate’s not going to take up a properly formed past impeachment, that’s on them. “I don’t think we can do anything,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the effort to impeach Mayorkas, said in response to a question from The Hill shortly after Wednesday’s votes. And despite some Republican interest in plowing ahead with a push to impeach Biden, the road to do so appears increasingly closed off and many congressional Republicans say they’re ready to move on from all things impeachment. At a hearing with Mayorkas on Tuesday about President Joe Biden’s budget request for the department, some of the House impeachment managers previewed the arguments they would have made.
Indeed, McCarthy has to balance his base’s demands for aggressive action with the concerns from more moderate members — many of whom hold seats in swing districts central to his narrow majority. But concerns about GOP attendance for what would likely be a late vote on Thursday seemed to give Republicans pause. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., spoke of the pain of migrants fleeing their home countries and urged Republicans to come to the table with solutions. Frustrated that Mayorkas would not appear Thursday, Green said the secretary is “stonewalling” the panel.
Calmes: That scowl. The gag order. Frightened jurors. Who’s on trial, a former president or a mob boss?
If he loses more than four GOP votes on an impeachment resolution, the effort would fail in the House and could mark a huge embarrassment for the GOP leadership. Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, told reporters that the impeachment articles were now set to be transmitted from the House next Monday. Had the Senate moved to an impeachment trial, it would have been the third time in five years. Trump was impeached twice during his presidency, first over his dealings with Ukraine and later over his involvement in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on four bills on Saturday — aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and a forthcoming bill that includes a potential ban on TikTok. But, the final product is expected to be lumped together as one big package that will be sent to the Senate, according to sources familiar. In the House, lawmakers will consider several separate bills that include aid for Israel and Ukraine this weekend.
House sends Mayorkas impeachment articles to Senate as clash over trial looms
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the House Republicans’ charges failed to meet “the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors” and could set a dangerous precedent. After the jurors are sworn in, Senate Republicans are likely to try to raise a series of objections if Schumer calls a vote to dismiss or table, an effort to both protest and delay the move. House impeachment managers — members who act as prosecutors and are appointed by the speaker — previewed some of their arguments at a hearing with Mayorkas on Tuesday morning on President Joe Biden's budget request for the department. But even if an impeachment resolution is approved in the House, winning a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict Mayorkas has virtually no chance of succeeding.
Johnson had said he would send them to the Senate last week, but punted again after Senate Republicans said they wanted more time to prepare. It’s exceedingly rare for a Cabinet secretary to be impeached, something that has only happened once in US history — when William Belknap, the secretary of war, was impeached by the House before being acquitted by the Senate in 1876. Yet it’s a very real possibility now after Kevin McCarthy — as he was pushing for the votes to win the speakership — called on Mayorkas to resign or face potential impeachment proceedings. Washington — House Republicans postponed sending the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate until next week, amid concerns over the timing of an impeachment trial that Senate Democrats are expected to quickly move to dismiss. 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.
Angry Republicans called for several votes to delay the inevitable final outcome, but none of them passed as Democrats and three Independents held together. As the trial began, senators approached the front of the Senate in groups of four to sign an oath book that is stored in the National Archives. “For the sake of the Senate’s integrity and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, senators should dismiss today’s charges,” said Schumer, D-N.Y., as he opened Wednesday’s session. "Instead of doing this impeachment — the first one in 100 years — why are we not doing a bipartisan border deal?" he said.
However, Republicans, who are demanding a full Senate trial, are fighting to drag out the process in a bid to shine the spotlight on what they see as Mayorkas’ failure to curtail migrant crossings and secure the southern border. The first of the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas accuses him of facilitating a "catch and release scheme," arguing that he allowed migrants to be unlawfully released into the U.S. without ensuring processes were in place for deportation. Democrats impeached President Donald Trump twice, once over his dealings with Ukraine and a second time in the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
Democrats, who control the Senate, have made clear their intention to quickly dispense with the articles, arguing that the politically charged proceedings amount to little more than a policy dispute with the administration. A two-thirds majority is needed to win an conviction in the Senate, an impossible threshold if all of the Democrats are united in favor of dismissing the charges against Mayorkas, who retains the support of Joe Biden. After Tuesday's ceremonial procession and presentation of the articles, the proceedings will not begin until Wednesday. Senators will be sworn in as jurors, turning the chamber into the court of impeachment.
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