Senate Republicans aren’t convinced Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas deserves to be impeached and removed from office.
While they say he has fallen down on the job of securing the southern border, the senators don’t know it rises to high crimes and misdemeanors, even as House Republicans race toward an impeachment vote.
“He’s been derelict in his duty,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, told The Washington Times. “Whether it’s an impeachable offense, I don’t know.”
Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who is part of the Senate GOP leadership team, was blunter in his disapproval of the House Republicans.
“I don’t like these snap impeachments that are effectively a vote of no confidence,” he said. “I agree with the frustration of my Republican colleagues that Mayorkas hasn’t done enough, but I’m kind of traditional on that whole high crimes and misdemeanors thingy.”
The House Homeland Security Committee passed articles of impeachment against Mr. Mayorkas in a party-line vote early Wednesday after 15 hours of debate that began Tuesday.
When the full House votes, Mr. Mayorkas likely will become the first sitting Cabinet secretary to be impeached, though a war secretary in the Grant administration resigned just before being impeached.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, is moving full speed ahead on impeachment and blamed President Biden and Mr. Mayorkas for the record level of illegal border crossings.
“Secretary Mayorkas‘ refusal to follow the law is driving this catastrophe,” Mr. Johnson said in his maiden floor speech on Wednesday since earning the speaker’s gavel last year. “Instead of order, they have chosen for us disorder and chaos. Rather than securing the homeland, they have ceded the homeland to cartels and traffickers.”
House Republicans can only afford two defections with their razor-thin majority. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado is among the holdouts, as well as Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington. But Rep. Don Bacon, who represents a swing district in Nebraska, said he will vote to impeach.
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa Republican on the leadership team, didn’t want to discuss the impeachment.
“It’s up to the House. I’m not going to get into that,” she said. “I can tell you that the border is a disaster. This administration has not handled it well. Absolute disaster.”
Another leadership member, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, said she hasn’t been paying attention to the case. She was one of six Senate Republicans to vote to confirm Mr. Mayorkas in 2021.
Sen. Mitt Romney also voted to confirm Mr. Mayorkas. The Utah Republican laughed and responded in the negative when asked whether the impeachment would be a good use of the Senate’s time.
When the House impeaches, the Senate is responsible for conducting a trial and acts as a jury. It takes a two-thirds Senate vote to convict and remove from office, rendering Mr. Mayorkas safe from conviction in the Democratic-led chamber.
Still, the impeachment puts Senate Democrats in a bind. Several face competitive reelections this fall and will be forced to address head-on the migrant crisis and their vote on Mr. Mayorkas.
Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer has pondered avoiding a trial with a vote to table the articles, which would be a precedent-setting move.
“What House Republicans are doing by advancing this sham impeachment effort is denigrating our Constitution all for the sake of appeasing one person and one person only: Donald Trump,” said Mr. Schumer, New York Democrat.