OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A House Republican who is chairman of an important committee is said to be reconsidering retirement at the end of his current term.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Green confirmed in a statement to The Hill that he’s “seriously reconsidering” his future plans after Punchbowl News first reported on his retirement announcement.
What could be driving Green’s reversal is the urging of the Tennessee congressional delegation, Just the News noted.
“I am hoping Mark Green will reconsider and get back in TN7. Mark is a solid conservative, and we need him to continue his work on the border,” Tennessee GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn told Punchbowl.
In addition, other GOP members of Tennessee’s House delegation have also urged Green to reconsider.
Greene made his retirement announcement a day after the House narrowly voted to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his inability to bring order to a chaotic border that has seen more than 7 million people cross illegally into the U.S. on his watch. That said, Mayorkas is simply carrying out President Joe Biden’s policies.
“Should Green decide to follow through on his retirement, he would be one of several Republican committee chairs to depart at the end of the current term. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger have all opted against seeking reelection,” Just the News noted further.
Meanwhile, a growing number of Border Patrol agents, frustrated by the Biden administration’s lack of enforcement of the country’s laws against illegal immigration, are increasingly calling for the Senate to move on impeaching Mayorkas.
Five federal agents who spoke to the Washington Examiner after the House voted to impeach Mayorkas on Feb. 13 say the job has been horrendous since he was confirmed by the Democrat-controlled Senate in February 2021.
Some of them also fear that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will move to dismiss the two articles before a trial can even begin.
“I want to see our government take action!!” a California-based agent wrote in a text message to the outlet when asked about the impeachment. “It took them long enough.”
Another California-based federal law enforcement agent said that Mayorkas, who has led the DHS for three years, ought to be held accountable for the chaos at the border.
“Yes, I would like to see a trial,” said the agent, who has been with the Border Patrol for 20 years. “There are no consequences for smugglers right now. We have so many [people who fail to yield to agents] and smugglers loading [vehicles with illegal immigrants] right on the border.”
The same agent told the Examiner that prosecution rates for the number of smuggling cases weren’t comparable, which meant that few smugglers faced the consequences after arrest.
“Smuggling is at the highest. They know we won’t prosecute them,” the second agent said. “He let it get out of control. He is responsible as head of this agency.”
A third agent called the House’s narrow 214-213 vote to impeach Mayorkas “amazing” but noted he wasn’t optimistic anything would happen to the DHS boss.
“I want to see him GONE!” the agent, who is based in Texas, wrote in a text. “Realistically speaking, nothing will happen.”
A fourth Border Patrol official who works in the Washington, D.C., headquarters office said field agents are frustrated and angry.
“For the most part, everyone I’ve spoken to is content that it’s happened,” the official said regarding Mayorkas’ impeachment. “It’s big, but we’re worried that the position will be filled with someone equal or worse than him.”
A fifth Border Patrol agent said the impeachment effort will be for naught.
“It won’t change a thing. All the work the Border Patrol has done over the years has essentially been for nothing,” the agent said. “The morale and motivation to go out and work groups has been destroyed and will take a generation of agents before it will ever begin to return.”
