The United States Senate, controlled by Democrats, blocked a Republican attempt to remove President Joe Biden’s immigration chief, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, on Wednesday.
Mayorkas had been impeached by the Republican-led House of Representatives in February, marking him as the first cabinet secretary to face impeachment in nearly 150 years.
The impeachment was part of a broader Republican effort to focus on border security as a significant issue for the upcoming November elections, particularly in light of record-breaking illegal immigration figures that peaked at 10,000 apprehensions per day at the US-Mexico border in December.
Republicans charged Mayorkas with a “willful and systemic refusal” to enforce immigration laws and a “breach of public trust.”
Despite the House’s action, the Senate quickly dismissed the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas as unconstitutional, following a party-line vote in a chamber where Democrats hold a slim majority of 51-49.
The White House expressed approval of the Senate’s decision. “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas will continue doing their jobs to keep America safe and pursue actual solutions at the border,” White House spokesman Ian Sams stated. He criticized Congressional Republicans for engaging in “baseless political stunts” and urged them to support genuine bipartisan border security reforms.
The impeachment saga drew heightened attention when House impeachment managers formally presented the articles to the Senate on Tuesday, following their adoption in February. The process was marred by accusations of bad faith from House Republicans, particularly following their opposition to a bipartisan Senate proposal intended to implement the strictest asylum and border policies in decades.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer advocated for a quick dismissal of the charges to maintain the Senate’s integrity and reserve impeachment for truly exceptional cases. “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,” Schumer urged on the Senate floor.
Removal from office would have required a supermajority of 67 votes in the 100-member Senate. Many of Mayorkas’ most vehement opponents are allies of former President Donald Trump, who is Biden’s likely adversary in the upcoming election. Trump has frequently highlighted violent crimes by migrants at his rallies, claiming a migrant-driven crime wave, although major city crime statistics and independent studies do not support this assertion.
Secretary Mayorkas has consistently denied the allegations, labeling them “baseless” and attributing them to political motives. The only other cabinet official ever impeached by the House was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, who faced corruption charges and resigned before the conclusion of his trial.
