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US Senate Unlikely To Impeach Homeland Secretary

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

WASHINGTON (Worthy News) – The U.S. Senate was facing political challenges Wednesday after the House of Representatives narrowly voted to impeach Alejandro N. Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, in a history precedent-shattering vote.

Mayorkas is the first sitting cabinet secretary in U.S. history to be impeached.

He was charged with “willfully refusing to enforce border laws” and breaching the public trust in a 214 to 213 vote amid growing frustration over the massive migration influx.

One other Cabinet official was impeached in all of U.S. history, William Belknap, who was secretary of war in 1876, long before that office was renamed the secretary of defense.

But Belknap resigned before the House vote, which was sparked by accusations of him receiving bribes from those he appointed to run trading posts at military forts in the country.

Despite his resignation, the House proceeded to impeach him anyway. The Senate ruled that it, too, had jurisdiction in the matter but failed to muster the two-thirds vote to convict him.

Now, nearly 150 years later, the vote was Republicans’ second, but this time successful, attempt at impeachment in the House.

22-PAGES

The 22-page articles of impeachment accuse Mayorkas of failing to comply with federal law and court rulings around migrant detention and blame him for a surge in border crossings during the Biden administration.

Mayorkas has “demonstrated he will remain a threat to national and border security” and “acted in a manner grossly incompatible with his duties and the rule of law,” the measure says.

Additionally, Mayorkas is accused of false statements to Congress and obstructing oversight from Congress and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general.

However, Democrats, DHS officials, and even some Republicans have blasted impeachment as “a political effort” not backed up by evidence.

Critics said the articles “stretch and distort the Constitution” and warned they are headed for “repudiation” in the Senate where, unlike the House, Democrats are in the majority.

“House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain,” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg warned in a statement.

The articles now head to the Senate, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has declined to commit to holding a trial against the Cabinet member of Democratic President Joe Biden.