The Senate moved Wednesday to put a premature end to the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which would make him the second Cabinet official in history to evade a conviction and removal from office — but the first to be acquitted without evidence being presented of his alleged “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) convened the upper chamber in the early afternoon to swear in the 51 Democrats or independents who caucus with them and 49 Republicans as jurors, before offering a motion to dismiss the first of the charges without a trial.
The unprecedented move set off a series of objections from Republicans, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) proposing a motion to adjourn the proceedings until April 30 and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rising to oppose Schumer’s motion that the first impeachment article was “unconstitutional.”
“At this point, in any trial in the country, the prosecution presents the case, the defense does the same and the jury listens,” McConnell said. “But the Senate has not had the opportunity to perform this duty.”
All 51 Democrats voted in favor of scuttling the first article, with Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski breaking from her 48 GOP colleagues by voting “present.”
If the second article is defeated along similar lines, it will be the first time in US history that the Senate has forgone the trial process in 21 impeachments for three presidents — including twice-charged former President Donald Trump — a Cabinet secretary, a senator and many federal judges.
“They’re gonna try to sweep this under the rug and act as if the Biden border crisis never existed. But the evidence is very plain,” Sen. John Cornyn told Fox News on Wednesday.
Schumer indicated in a Senate floor speech on Tuesday that he wanted “to address this issue as expeditiously as possible” and that “impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement.”
The House voted 214-213 in February to impeach Mayorkas, 64, for his “willful and systemic refusal to comply” with federal immigration law and lying to Congress about the Biden administration maintaining a “secure” border.
Eleven House impeachment managers, led by Homeland Security chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.), delivered the two articles of impeachment to the Senate on Tuesday.
“These are serious charges that I urge my colleagues in the Senate to treat with the gravity and deliberation they deserve,” Green said in a statement. “The Senate has a responsibility to conduct a full trial, hear the evidence, and render a verdict.”
Record-breaking numbers of migrants have crossed illegally into the US every year that Biden has been in office, with a total of more than 9 million encountered at land borders, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics.
More than 7.5 million migrants have been caught along the southern border, and another 1.8 million have evaded apprehension but nevertheless been observed making the illegal entries.
The massive influx has led to a backlog of more than 3 million cases of asylum seekers in the US, the House impeachment resolution noted.
The impeachment articles also alleged that Mayorkas failed to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and misled Congress about the Department of Homeland Security having “operational control” of the border.
In a Sept. 30, 2021, memo, the secretary had also changed policies for detaining and expelling migrants, allowing his department to institute a de facto “catch and release” policy for millions of illegal border crossers, the resolution states.
In March 1876, the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap on charges of corruption, but he handed in his resignation to President Ulysses S. Grant hours before the vote was held.
House managers and more than 40 witnesses argued that Belknap’s resignation shouldn’t keep the upper chamber from voting to convict — but the Senate acquitted him on five articles of impeachment for taking kickbacks in exchange for a political appointment.
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