[ad_1]
CNN
—
House Republicans have sent two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate, a move that could start a Senate trial as Republicans seek to highlight President Joe Biden’s response to immigration policy. became.
But the Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to immediately dismiss the charges without a trial or hold a speedy trial that would conclude without a conviction.
Mayorkas, who took over at the start of the Biden administration, is the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in about 150 years.. House Republicans narrowly voted to impeach Mayorkas in February over his handling of the southern border, after failing on his first attempt.
Republicans targeted Mayorkas soon after taking control of the House last year, and the high number of border crossings comes as the party faces pressure from its base to hold the Biden administration accountable on key campaign issues. He blamed it on the director.
But several constitutional experts said the evidence presented by Republicans did not meet the U.S. Constitution’s high threshold for felonies and misdemeanors. Democrats say the impeachment process is politically motivated and without merit.
The matter now moves to the Senate, where Democratic senators, including some Republicans, say they expect Congress to move to dismiss the case before a full trial begins.
If not dismissed outright, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday night that senators would be sworn in as jurors in the trial Wednesday at 1 p.m.
The chaotic development of impeachment proceedings against Mr. Mayorkas has left many Republicans even more skeptical about the possibility of impeaching Mr. Biden, perhaps the biggest target of this Congress. Given their slim majority, House Republicans do not have the votes or concrete evidence to impeach Biden, and a separate impeachment inquiry remains stalled.
Mr. Mayorkas has pushed back against criticism of his leadership, and the Department of Homeland Security has called the impeachment effort against him a baseless political attack.
“Despite warnings from Republican members that this baseless impeachment effort ‘perverts the Constitution,’ House Republicans continue to ignore the facts and continue to support this falsehood in the Senate,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement. “We are wasting even more time impeaching him and damaging the Constitution.”
Republicans have targeted Mayorkas in an effort to attack Biden and his administration’s response to the southern border.Immigration has become a political soft spot for Biden as border crossings reach record highs and cities across the country struggle to manage the influx of migrants..
But the White House is trying to flip the script, arguing that Republicans’ blocking of a bipartisan border deal shows the party is not serious about border security.
After months of negotiations, Senate Republicans earlier this year approved a major bipartisan package that would mean tough changes to immigration law and give the president broad powers to restrict the entry of illegal immigrants at the southern border. Blocked border agreements. The bill aims to close loopholes in the asylum process, limit immigrants’ access to parole and give the president new powers to effectively close the border if there are too many border crossing attempts. there were.
The agreement has come under relentless attack from former President Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana), and even if the bill passes the Senate, it would be invalid once it reaches the floor. said it would be. Trump, who has made immigration a key part of his presidential campaign, suggested on Truth Social that approving additional resources for border control would make the Republican Party look “bad.”
Referring to the impeachment process against Mayorkas, White House Counsel Ian Sams said in a memo that “this effort is a complete waste of time, constitutional and legal experts have called it ‘unconstitutional,’ and the Senate Even Republican members of Congress have made it clear that it is unconstitutional.” I don’t want to concentrate. ”
“But the worst part is that extreme Republicans are pushing this stupid and baseless act while at the same time defunding the actual bipartisan border security bill that was supposed to address the challenges at the border and provide DHS with the resources it needs.” “It has been invalidated,” he continued.
Republican arguments for impeachment and opposition from constitutional experts
When Johnson initially told Schumer he would send articles of impeachment to the Senate, he explained why he believed Mayorkas was justified in impeaching him. Johnson claimed that Mayorkas directed department officials to violate U.S. immigration law and that the administration’s use of parole powers was illegal.
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green of Tennessee, who led the House investigation into Mr. Mayorkas, argued that Mr. Mayorkas had committed impeachable high crimes and misdemeanors.
“These articles provide clear, convincing and irrefutable grounds for the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas,” Greene said in a statement provided to CNN. “He intentionally and systematically refused to comply with the immigration laws enacted by Congress. He intentionally made false statements to Congress and the American people and obstructed Congressional oversight of his own department.” By doing so, he betrayed the public’s trust.”
Citing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, he said that given the Supreme Court’s ruling that states cannot challenge federal immigration laws, Congress should “use weapons of inter-branch warfare,” including impeachment. He claimed to have suggested that it was possible.
Democrats have denounced the impeachment effort, saying policy disagreements do not constitutionally justify impeaching cabinet ministers, which is rarely done.
Legal scholars also It poured cold water on the legal arguments Republicans are using to support their impeachment efforts.
Ross Garber, a Tulane University law professor who has represented many Republicans as prosecutors and defense attorneys in impeachment cases, told CNN that House Republicans have not presented evidence of impeachable crimes. he said.
“I think what House Republicans are arguing is that Secretary Mayorkas is guilty of mismanagement,” Garber said. “At least as presented at this time, the charges do not rise to the level of a felony or misdemeanor.”
Michael Chertoff, a former Secretary of Homeland Security who served under Republican President George W. Bush, wrote in an op-ed: The House Homeland Security Committee did, but failed to produce evidence that met the criteria. ”
Jonathan Turley, a constitutional expert called by Republicans as a witness at the hearing, said there was “no evidence at this point that he was corrupt or committed any impeachable offenses.” More than 20 law professors said in an open letter that Mayorkas’ impeachment was “completely constitutionally unwarranted.”
Doubts remain over Senate trial
The question now for Senate Democratic leaders is what the trial will look like and how exactly they will handle the articles of impeachment.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not said specifically how he intends to handle the trial procedurally, but the Senate will issue a simple majority vote on Thursday, the same day that senators are sworn into office. may pass a motion to reject or table the provision. -Right Republican senators are trying to find a way to force a full trial.
Schumer has previously said he intends to conclude the impeachment trial “as quickly as possible,” but declined to say whether he would dismiss or table the articles.
Even if the Senate did not vote for immediate removal from office, it is highly doubtful that Congress would vote to convict Mr. Mayorkas, which would require a two-thirds majority vote to clear. This is a very high hurdle to overcome.
Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin said he believed the case would be over “quickly” and that several Republicans had indicated they would not support convicting Mayorkas.
“I don’t know how Chuck will approach it. There are a couple of procedural opportunities,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju. “I think it’s going to be over soon. I’ve talked to some Republicans, and frankly that’s not the case, they’re not taking this issue very seriously.”
Republican Party Leader John Thune said he would be in a “difficult position” if Senate Democrats running for re-election in red states vote to dismiss the impeachment charges against Mayorkas when the trial begins. He said he would fall into this.
Voting no would make it look like Democrats are “turning a blind eye and turning a blind eye” to the crisis at the border, he said.
He said he expected a “vast majority” of Republican lawmakers to vote for a full trial. But he acknowledged that it was unlikely that all Republicans would vote en masse on the issue, and that some Republicans could join Democrats in rejecting it.
Johnson urged Schumer not to dismiss the article too quickly.
“We ask that you fulfill your constitutional obligation to hold this trial,” Johnson wrote to Schumer last month. “Introducing articles of impeachment without ever hearing arguments or considering the evidence would violate constitutional order and be an insult to the American people we all serve.”
Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat, will oversee proceedings.
In addition to Greene, other House Republicans named as Senate impeachment managers include Reps. Michael McCaul (Texas), Andy Biggs (Arizona), and Clay Higgins (Louisiana). , Congressman Ben Kline (Virginia), Congressman Michael Guest (Mississippi), and Congressman Andrew Garbarino. Marjorie Taylor Greene of New York, Georgia, August Pflueger of Texas, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, and Laurel Lee of Florida.
CNN’s Ted Barrett and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link
