US House to deliver Homeland Secretary Mayorkas impeachment to Senate April 10

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during a press conference with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo, in Guatemala City, Guatemala, March 21, 2024. REUTERS/Cristina Chiquin/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives will deliver two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on April 10, House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday.

Mayorkas, who Republicans blame for record flows of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border, was narrowly impeached by the House last month on allegations that he has not enforced U.S. immigration laws and has made false statements to Congress.

Mayorkas, part of Democratic President Joe Biden’s cabinet, has said he does not bear responsibility for the border situation, blaming it instead on a broken U.S. immigration system that Congress has not been able to fix.

“We will present to you upon the Senate’s return, on April 10, 2024, the duly passed articles of impeachment,” Johnson and 11 Republican impeachment managers informed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in a letter on Thursday.

The House and Senate are currently on a two-week recess.

“We urge you to schedule a trial of the matter expeditiously,” they wrote.

Federal officials including presidents, who are impeached by the House are subject to a trial in the Senate to determine whether they should be removed from office.

Schumer’s office issued a statement saying that senators will be sworn in as trial jurors the day after the articles are delivered.

However, the Democratic-led chamber is highly unlikely to vote to remove Mayorkas from office.

The House voted twice before impeaching Mayorkas on a vote of 214-213, after an initial vote failed. Democrats and a handful of Republicans opposed the action.

(Reporting by David Morgan and Makini Brice; editing by Jonathan Oatis)