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GOP House leaders on Tuesday announced they would be delaying sending over articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas until next week, a report said.
The Daily Wire, citing sources, said that House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) office announced that the handoff to the Senate would be delayed until at least Monday, though it had been decided two weeks ago that the handoff would take place on Wednesday.
“To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week,” Johnson spokesperson Taylor Haulsee said in a statement. “There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial.”
In February, House lawmakers approved two impeachment articles against Mayorkas. One accuses him of “willfully and systemically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws, while the other alleges that he “breached the public trust” by making false statements and obstructing lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Despite approximately two months passing, Senate Republicans have requested that Johnson postpone sending over the articles until at least Monday to allow them more time, as mentioned by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA). His colleague, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), expressed appreciation for Johnson’s “bold willingness” to delay the transfer, The Daily Wire noted.
“We don’t want this to come over on the eve of the moment when members might be operating under the influence of jet fume intoxication,” Lee said, adding that members would be most likely to want to conclude the trial quickly. He added, “It’s much better for us to do this at the beginning of a legislative week than the end of one.”
Reports had suggested that Democrats anticipated dismissing the impeachment charges before a full trial could occur, depriving senators of the chance to vote on whether to convict or acquit Mayorkas.
“We’re going to try to resolve this issue as quickly as impossible. Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters on Wednesday, though he supported former President Donald Trump’s two impeachments.
A two-thirds vote is required for a conviction, which would lead to removal from office. However, the articles may not make very far should there be a motion to table, which, according to the Senate glossary, is “a proposal to set aside any pending question. Used to dispose of a question the Chamber does not want to consider further. Agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the question tabled.”
Not all GOP senators are in favor of trying Mayorkas. Retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said he favored a quick resolution because Mayorkas was only following President Biden’s directives on immigration and border policy.
“The House impeached Mayorkas on February 13 by an extremely narrow margin, making him the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in almost 150 years,” CNN reported last week.
“House Republicans impeached Mayorkas last month after failing to do so on their first try, a stunning loss that came about after GOP defections and absences sank the initial floor vote. Republicans have sought to use the impeachment of Mayorkas’ to spotlight the Biden administration’s handling of the southern border, as the conference has faced building pressure from their base to hold President Joe Biden and his departments and agencies accountable over immigration and border security policies,” the outlet added.
Although several constitutional experts have stated that the evidence does not meet that high standard, Johnson claimed in his letter that Mayorkas has committed serious crimes and misdemeanors related to his management of the southern border.
A representative for the Department of Homeland Security, Mia Ehrenberg, described the attempt as “baseless, unconstitutional impeachment” and claimed it was “without a shred of evidence or legitimate constitutional grounds.”
