US Senate expected to quickly dismiss impeachment charges against Mayorkas

Alejandro Mayorkas in New York City on 17 April 2024. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

The US Senate is expected Wednesday to quickly dismiss the impeachment brought by Republicans against Alejandro Mayorkas, the homeland security secretary, with the top Democrat calling the charges an “illegitimate and profane abuse of the US Constitution”.

At 1pm, when the Senate convenes as a court of impeachment and the senators are sworn in as jurors, Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said he would seek an agreement to allow for a period of debate before moving to a vote to dismiss the charges, ending the proceedings without a formal trial.

“It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise,” Schumer said.

House Republican impeachment managers on Tuesday presented two articles of impeachment to the Senate. They accused the secretary of failing to enforce US border laws and breaching the public trust with his statements to Congress about unusually high levels of migration to the US southern border with Mexico.

Joe Biden has said he continues to have confidence in Mayorkas, who has denied wrongdoing throughout the process.

“As they work on impeachment, I work in advancing the missions of the Department of Homeland Security. That’s what I’ve done throughout this process,” Mayorkas said on Wednesday during an appearance on CBS to discuss a new federal initiative to combat online abuse of children.

Constitutional scholars, including conservative legal experts, have said the Republicans’ impeachment case is deeply flawed and based on a policy dispute with the Biden administration that fails to meet the bar of “high crimes and misdemeanors” outlined in the constitution. Democrats have dismissed the charges as election-year political theater designed to draw attention to the situation at the border, one of the president’s biggest liabilities.

“The impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas has nothing to do with high crimes and misdemeanors and everything to do with helping Donald Trump on the campaign trail,” Schumer added on Wednesday.

He charged Republicans instead to join Democrats in passing the bipartisan border bill they derailed at Trump’s behest.

Some Senate Republicans have expressed deep skepticism of the impeachment effort. But conservatives have cried foul and are preparing to deploy a series of procedural tactics in an effort to delay the vote ending the trial without arguments.

“What Senator Schumer is going to do is fatuous, it is fraudulent and it is an insult to the Senate and a disservice to every American citizen,” said John Kennedy, Republican Senator of Louisiana, at a press conference on Tuesday.

By a single vote, House Republicans impeached Mayorkas in February for his handling of the US-Mexico border. It was the first time in nearly 150 years that a cabinet secretary was impeached.

But Mike Johnson delayed the transfer of the articles for several weeks, initially to allow the chambers more time to complete work on government funding legislation. Upon returning from a two-week recess, the House speaker again postponed the transfer at the request of Senate Republicans, who requested more time to prepare their efforts to slow-walk the proceedings.

From the well of the Senate floor on Tuesday, the House homeland security chair, Mark Green of Tennessee, read aloud the articles accusing Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal” to enforce border policies and a “breach of public trust”.

Were the Senate to hold an impeachment trial, it would be the third time in five years. Donald Trump was impeached twice during his presidency, first over his dealings with Ukraine and later over his involvement in the January 6 assault on the US Capitol. He was acquitted both times by Senate Republicans.

A two-thirds majority is needed to win a conviction in the Senate, an impossible threshold if all of the Democrats are united in favor of ending the trial.