© ReutersHouse Republicans walked over their impeachment articles against Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday in a dramatic show of disapproval for the Homeland Security secretary
House Republicans walked over their impeachment articles against Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday in a dramatic show of disapproval for the Homeland Security secretary.
The handover immediately triggers a constitutional process that will force the Senate to decide the fate of the embattled border chief.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., with a slight smirk on her face, walked alongside Homeland Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., and nine other Republican impeachment managers during the short ceremonial march to the Senate.
Mayorkas is the first Cabinet secretary in nearly 150 years to be impeached. Republicans voted to oust him from his position in February for facilitating the southern border crisis.
© Michael Brochstein/SOPA Imags/SDepartment of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas' future in the position is unclear as the House has passed articles of impeachment against the man in charge of U.S. border security but the Democrat-held Senate is likely to acquit the charges against him
GOP Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he would 'strenuously oppose any effort to table the articles of impeachment.'
'Never before has the Senate agreed to a motion to table articles of impeachment.,' he said on the Senate floor. 'It would be beneath the Senate's dignity to shrug off our clear responsibility.'
Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green read the articles aloud on the Senate floor after marching them over alongside the other House impeachment managers.
Speaker Mike Johnson had originally planned to send the articles to the Senate last week but after speaking with GOP Senators he decided to delay until this week.
© Anadolu/GettyRepublicans charge that Mayorkas has intentionally loosened restrictions around illegal immigration under the orders of President Joe Biden
'The immigration court backlog has more than doubled,' he went on. 'The exploding backlog is destroying the courts ability to administer justice and provide appropriate relief in a timeframe that does not run into years or even decades.'
How did we get here? Mayorkas impeachment timeline:
The Republican-led House Homeland Security Committee has been investigating Mayorkas' mishandling of the U.S. border since last summer.
The committee released a five-installment report spanning from July 2023 to December 2023.
In January, Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., released an impeachment resolution with two individual charges against Mayorkas.
The impeachment articles said that Mayorkas 'refused to comply with Federal immigration laws' amid a record surge of migrants and that he has 'breached the public trust' in his claims to Congress that the US-Mexico border is secure.
After a late night vote passing the articles out of the committee on January 31, the resolution was teed up for a vote on the House floor.
A week later, the House voted 216-214 on the impeachment articles and the Republican-backed motion failed.
But a week later, on February 13, the House tried again and the articles of impeachment passed by a single vote.
'Secretary Mayorkas' impeachment — the first of a sitting Cabinet official in U.S. history — indicates how seriously the House takes his refusal to comply with the law and his breach of the public trust,' Green told DailyMail.com in a statement.
'This historic vote followed a thorough, fair, comprehensive, and nearly year-long investigation conducted by the House Committee on Homeland Security into Secretary Mayorkas and his handling of the unprecedented border crisis.'
'The Framers of our Constitution gave Congress this grave authority when public officials choose to ignore the law and inflict grave harm on our constitutional order. The Democrat-led Senate must hold the trial, render a verdict, and hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable,' Green added.
© European Press AgencySenate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not revealed what he plans to do with the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas
But as that time came and went the House did not send the Senate the articles, instead working for weeks on massive funding packages to keep the government from a partial shutdown.
After another at home work period for Easter recess, Speaker Johnson and his appointed impeachment managers sent a letter to Schumer on March 28 informing him they would walk the articles to the Senate on April 10.
On April 9, however, a group of GOP Senators led by Sens. Mike Lee, R-Utah, John Kennedy, R-La., Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Roger Marshall, R-Kan., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., held a press conference advocating for the House to hold off sending the articles.
The 11th-hour plea for delaying was because the Republicans knew if the articles were delivered on schedule - Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. - the Senate would have little motivation to have a long trial as many had planned to fly out of D.C. by Thursday.
'Many House and Senate members think Johnson's timing is dumb, because a Wednesday night delivery [and] Thursday afternoon floor fight aren't enough time to win the news cycle and to hammer the fight in Washington,' a senior Senate aide told DailyMail.com Tuesday.
Later that evening, Speaker Johnson agreed to the Senator's request and held off on sending the articles.
A spokesperson for Speaker Johnson said that '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.'
'There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial,' Taylor Haulsee told DailyMail.com.
A source familiar with the matter told DailyMail.com that the House is expected to deliver the articles to the Senate on Tuesday, April 16.
Will Democrats move to quash the trial for Mayorkas?
Schumer has several routes forward upon receiving the articles.
First, he could put the articles up for an immediate vote, which could and likely would result in the Democrats voting to table the motion, meaning there would be no impeachment trial in the Senate and Mayorkas would be cleared of wrongdoing.
Democrats control the Senate by a slim majority of 51-49, but some Republicans have indicated that they would vote to dismiss because there is no path forward for a trial.
Second, he could proceed by swearing in the Senate as jurors in the case, which would then enable the House impeachment managers to argue their case against Mayorkas before the upper chamber.
After hearing the case, the Senate would then vote on the articles.
Schumer's third option is to send the articles into committee for review.
The special committee would then investigate the articles of impeachment and would later provide recommendations for how the Senate should move forward.
In that case, the Senate floor would not be jammed up with impeachment proceedings, allowing them to legislate on other matters while simultaneously addressing Mayorkas' impeachment.
Still, how Schumer wants to move forward is remains to be seen.
Senate Republicans are hoping for a full trial as they argue it is the Senate's Constitutional duty.
But as the Senate is controlled by Democrats, it appears unlikely Schumer will decide to move forward in that matter.
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