Alejandro Mayorkas’s behavior is wearing thin with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who warned Tuesday that the Homeland Security secretary’s stonewalling of basic questions shows “contempt” for Congress.

The admonition came two weeks after Mr. Mayorkas made a surreal appearance before the committee, ducking GOP lawmakers’ questions about everything from terrorism suspects at the border to illegal immigrants accused of murdering American citizens.

The lack of answers was all the more galling to Republicans because they had given Mr. Mayorkas a heads-up about exactly what they would be asking at the hearing, and pleaded with him to come with answers. Some of the questions are ones they’ve been posing since the border descended into chaos in 2021.

“Your knowing refusal to have answers to the Committee’s questions shows your contempt for the constitutional oversight process and your disrespect for the American people we serve,” wrote Mr. Jordan and Rep. Tom McClintock, chairman of the immigration subcommittee, to Mr. Mayorkas.

Their letter comes as Republicans ponder possible punishments for Mr. Mayorkas. Options lawmakers have suggested include trying to reduce funding for his staff, holding him in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide answers, or moving to impeach him.

The Washington Times has reached out to Homeland Security for this story.

Mr. Mayorkas’s testimony at the July 26 hearing aggravated GOP dissatisfaction with the secretary.

“You’re not answering any Republican questions. Is it something that you intend, to not respond to any questions from Republicans?” exploded Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana. “You haven’t shared anything useful here.”

She told him, “You sit in here, looking at us with this very smiley face, it’s unacceptable.”

That was one challenge Mr. Mayorkas did respond to. “Let me allow the record to reflect — I’m not smiling, nor have I smiled,” the secretary said.

Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, would oversee impeachment proceedings as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He has said he considers all options for handling Mr. Mayorkas to be open.

The seven-page letter, while using the word “contempt” to describe Mr. Mayorkas, didn’t go deeper into the chairman’s current thinking.

But it did make clear the levels of frustration.

“Despite our repeated attempts to ensure that your testimony would be informative and beneficial, you appeared before the Committee unprepared and unable or unwilling to provide the specific data we requested,” wrote Mr. Jordan and Mr. McClintock, California Republican. “The American people deserve better.”

They said they’ve been asking since April 28, 2022, about how the department has handled the record number of illegal immigrants caught sneaking in across the southern border whose identities trigger hits in the terrorist watchlist.

At last month’s hearing, Mr. Mayorkas said they are “detained” and are a “priority” for deportation, but has not provided data showing what the actual outcomes have been. In June, an assistant secretary promised the committee a timeline for turning over the data, yet even that has not been submitted, the GOP letter said.

Pressed by lawmakers over how many illegal immigrants caught and released under the Biden administration have since been apprehended and deported, Mr. Mayorkas demurred.

“The data that you wish to have, we will provide to you as promptly as possible. What I don’t want to do is misspeak when it comes to data,” he said.

The Republicans said he has yet to follow through on that commitment.

Mr. Jordan tried to pin down Mr. Mayorkas at the end of last month’s hearing. He said he’d been taking notes on the things the secretary was unable to answer but for which he promised answers.

In addition to the terrorism and catch-and-release questions, they included queries on what’s happened to smugglers the department says it has arrested, what legal authority Mr. Mayorkas is using to “parole” unauthorized immigrants into the U.S., and a request for the immigration file of an illegal immigrant charged with assaulting a teenage girl in Alabama.

“Despite this request letter— and repeated attempts by the Committee to receive information about the alien—you stated you were surprised to learn of the horrific crime occurring in Rep. [Barry] Moore’s district. Now that you have been reminded of this crime, we ask that you provide the Committee with the information first requested more than two months ago,” Mr Jordan and Mr. McClintock said.

During the hearing, Mr. Mayorkas also was unable to reveal the status of a misinformation panel at his department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“I’m kind of shocked that you don’t know the answer to that,” Rep. Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, told him.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.