Lawmakers passed two articles accusing him of “deliberate and systematic refusal” to enforce immigration laws.
Washington:
Republicans impeached U.S. President Joe Biden’s immigration chief on Tuesday, the culmination of months of attacks on a Democratic administration trying to make border security a key issue in November’s election.
Conservatives in the House of Representatives, which are narrowly controlled by Republicans, blame Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for a surge in illegal immigration from Mexico that they call a “humanitarian disaster.”
Lawmakers passed two articles accusing him of “willfully and systematically refusing” to enforce immigration laws and “violating the public trust,” making him the first cabinet minister to be impeached in nearly 150 years.
It was the second attack on Mayorkas by Republican leaders after their first impeachment effort failed last week after they incorrectly predicted how many lawmakers would be on each side and lost by one vote.
Tuesday’s reelection was similarly close, but the return of Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has been undergoing cancer treatment, flipped the House in a 214-213 vote.
“Short of declaring war, impeachment is arguably the most serious power vested in the House, and we have handled this matter accordingly,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
“Because this secretary of state refuses to do the job the Senate confirmed him to do, the House must act.”
But Biden immediately rebuked Republicans for what he called “a blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship to play petty political games against a respected public servant.”
“We will continue to seek real solutions to the challenges facing Americans, and House Republicans must decide whether to work with us to solve the problems or continue to play politics on the border,” he added.
The outcome was unprecedented because the House had impeached only one other Cabinet official—Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876—and that was over serious corruption charges rather than direct policy differences.
However, the denunciation, seen politically as the equivalent of an indictment, was largely symbolic as Mayorkas was certain to be acquitted at trial in the Democratic-led Senate.
The vote comes amid a showdown between the House and Senate over curbing a surge in illegal immigration that saw a record 10,000 people arrested a day at the U.S.-Mexico border in December.
-“Pandora’s box”-
House Republicans have been accused of bad intentions in impeachment, especially after opposing a bipartisan deal in the upper chamber that would have imposed the toughest asylum and border policies in decades.
“History will remember House Republicans for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to address serious challenges at the border,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said.
Under the Constitution, impeachment is a sanction for treason, bribery and other “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Ken Buck, one of three Republicans who voted no in last week’s vote, called the move against Mayorkas a “stunt,” while another rebel, Mike Gallagher Gallagher said this would “pry open the Pandora’s box of permanent impeachment.”
Twenty-five legal experts called the move “completely unreasonable” in an open letter, a sentiment echoed by constitutional scholars such as Jonathan Turley and Alan Dershowitz who have opposed Trump’s impeachment in Congress.
House Democrats voted unanimously against impeachment, which also faced strong opposition from the White House.
Homeland Security’s Ellenberger accused Republicans of “falsely smearing a conscientious public servant” without “a shred of evidence.”
The Senate is now forced to hold at least one trial, although it can vote to dismiss the articles, dissolve the trial or refer them to a committee.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
