President Joe Biden’s least-popular Cabinet secretary will skate free from a formal Senate impeachment trial.
The Senate dismissed two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday.
The move guarantees that Mayorkas won’t stand trial in the upper chamber.
The secretary faced charges of willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and breach of public trust, according to The Washington Post.
“Throughout his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security,” the first article said. “In large part because of his unlawful conduct, millions of aliens have illegally entered the United States on an annual basis with many unlawfully remaining in the United States.
“His refusal to obey the law is not only an offense against the separation of powers in the Constitution of the United States, it also threatens our national security and has had a dire impact on communities across the country.”
The second article said Mayorkas “has knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security … principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
The House approved the articles of impeachment in February on a 214-213 vote.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats voted on party lines to dismiss the charges.
#BREAKING: U.S. Senate dismisses Articles of Impeachment against DHS Secretary Mayorkas.
Article I dismissed 51-48-1. Sen. @lisamurkowski (R-AK) voted ‘present.’
Article II dismissed 51-49.
Full video: https://t.co/CfJ5RWNwFj pic.twitter.com/jrWdbxJOoJ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 17, 2024
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed the House’s impeachment of Mayorkas was illegitimate.
“The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standards of high crimes and misdemeanors,” the Democrat said before early proceedings of what would’ve been the trial.
“To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future,” he said.
.@SenSchumer: The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas failed to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future. pic.twitter.com/95H2mU6SAq
— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) April 17, 2024
As secretary of homeland security, Mayorkas has presided over an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens across the nation’s southern border.
Approximately 2.5 million aliens breached the border in fiscal year 2023 — an all-time record, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Do you think Mayorkas should have been tried and convicted?
The federal government has largely abandoned its obligation to deport illegal immigrants under Mayorkas’ tenure.
Less than 5 percent of migrants who illegally entered the United States were deported in 2023, according to the New York Post.
Mayorkas’ brief trial made congressional history.
It was the first Senate impeachment trial to conclude without the prosecution having the opportunity to present evidence of the defendant’s alleged high crimes and misdemeanors, according to the New York Post.
Mayorkas also is the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached since Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, according to CNN.
