ABC News reports that articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border were officially transmitted to the Senate on Tuesday. The House impeachment managers, selected by Republican leadership, walked the two articles through the Capitol led by the House clerk and sergeant-at-arms.
The House voted to impeach Mayorkas in mid-February over what they said was his failure to enforce border laws amid a surge in migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border. The controversial vote, which had previously failed, was opposed by three Republicans and all Democrats. House leaders opted to wait until after a government funding fight to present the issue to the Senate, with Senate Republicans pushing to delay the proceedings until this week amid concerns over attendance. The House impeachment managers include Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul and Reps. Andy Biggs, Ben Cline, Andrew Garbarino, Michael Guest, Harriet Hageman, Clay Higgins, Laurel Lee, August Pfluger and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denounced the effort to impeach Mayorkas as “baseless,” saying that House Republicans “continue to ignore the facts and undermine the Constitution” with the impeachment push. A DHS spokesperson said in a statement: “Congressional Republicans should stop wasting time with unfounded attacks, and instead do their job by passing bipartisan legislation to properly fund the Department’s vital national security missions and finally fix our broken immigration system.”
The historic vote that marked the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached in nearly 150 years. Mayorkas is only the second Cabinet secretary to be impeached in U.S. history after William Belknap, a former secretary of war, in 1876.
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