(NewsSpace.com) – With millions of migrants pouring across the border, Conservatives are fed up with policies that don’t work. To that end, they voted to impeach Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on two counts. The measures passed the House and headed to the Senate, where Republicans were hoping to force the upper chamber into a trial. However, that didn’t happen, and now Mayorkas is off the hook.
The charges against Mayorkas were considered historic because he was the first cabinet member to be impeached in more than 150 years. Yet, the fanfare of the House’s success was quickly doused by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who held a vote to declare both of the charges unconstitutional for failing to meet “the standard of high crimes and misdemeanors.”
The first charge alleged that Mayorkas failed to uphold US laws at the Southern border in a “willful and systemic refusal to comply,” and the second accused him of breaching public trust. The Senate ruled 51-48 and 51-49, respectively, effectively ending the so-called “baseless impeachment” that Democrats say was nothing more than Republicans “wasting time playing political games.”
The decision was not well received among Congressional Republicans. Senate GOP members greeted Mayorkas with an icy reception the day after the charges were dismissed, when he appeared before them to testify as to the Biden administration’s FY2025 budget, which would see more funding to support border efforts.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said the Democrats’ decision to vote down the impeachment articles sets a “dangerous precedent,” particularly since senators weren’t given the chance to see evidence or go through the established processes. Before the vote, Republicans had reportedly been discussing the possibility of hindering normal operations should things play out this way. As of yet, it remains to be seen whether that will come to fruition. But they aren’t happy, and they are making that loudly known.
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