Why haven’t U.S. House Republicans moved to impeach Mayorkas?
Secretary Mayorkas tells the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee that the southern border is secure.
April 21, 2023 | Washington, D.C.
While no official movement has yet been made to impeach Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, House Republicans may have begun setting the stage for impeachment in an April 19 Homeland Security Hearing.
According to a New York Times report, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told donors in a private setting that the hearing would be used to begin laying out the case for impeachment.
Representative Michael Guest (R-MS) pressured Secretary Mayorkas in the hearing to answer “yes” or “no” as to whether the border is secure.
“My question to you, Secretary Mayorkas, is it your testimony that all nine of the Southwest sectors from the Rio Grande Valley to San Diego, that under whatever definition you use that you believe that all nine sectors are secure?”
After much grilling from Representative Guest, Secretary Mayorkas answered, “It is my testimony that the border is secure, and we are working every day and night to increase its security. The challenges that we are experiencing at the border cannot be overstated.”
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) responded on Twitter, “Utter malarkey. Mayorkas needs to resign. #BidenBorderCrisis.”
“Your job is to protect the homeland,” Chairman Green said in the hearing. “And one of those obvious duties is to secure the United States’ sovereign borders and to implement the laws duly passed by Congress.
“However, you have not secured our borders, Mr. Secretary, and I believe you’ve done so intentionally. There is no other explanation for the systematic dismantling and transformation of our border into a lawless and dangerous open border.”
Secretary Mayorkas posited that he needs more money to do his job, saying “The fiscal year 2024 budget proposes the hiring of over 1,400 additional personnel to secure the southwest border, including 350 additional border patrol agents and 310 additional border patrol processing coordinators to get more agents back into the field performing their critical law enforcement mission.”
He continued, “The budget proposes $535 million dollars in new funds for border technology, $305 million of which is to deploy new technologies and capabilities in our fight against the trafficking of fentanyl through our ports of entry.”
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing
In a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on March 28, Secretary Mayorkas told Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), “Senator, the expert information that I received is that approximately 90 percent of the fentanyl is brought in through the ports of entry, through passenger vehicles, through trucks, and through pedestrians.”
Senator Cornyn asked, “Mr. Secretary, you understand that you have a credibility problem with the Congress and with the American people, don’t you?”
Secretary Mayorkas responded, “I have unflinching confidence in the integrity of my conduct.”
In the same hearing, Senator Cruz asked, “Mr. Secretary, how many children have been sold into sex slavery under your administration? Mr. Secretary, I want to say to you right now, your behavior is disgraceful, and the deaths of assaulted children, they are at your feet. If you had integrity, you would resign.”
Mayorkas responded that Senator Cruz’s comments were “revolting.”
Cruz said, “Your refusal to do your job is revolting.”
Texas Senator Creighton presents Border Security legislation
Meanwhile, Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton (SD-4) presented two pieces of legislation to the Texas Committee on Border Security on April 20.
According to Texans for Strong Borders, SB 1481 would give the Texas Facilities Commission the power of eminent domain over real property to prevent human trafficking and illegal aliens from entering the U.S., among other reasons, to construct and finish Trump’s border wall.
SCR 29 invokes the state of Texas’s constitutional right to repel the invasion at the Texas border under Article I, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution and cites the Federal Government’s failure to uphold their duty to protect states from invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. It also references Section 4, Article 7 of the Texas Constitution which states the Governor is the “Commander-in-Chief of the Texas Military forces” and has the power to “repel invasions.”
Senator Creighton said before the Border Security committee, “As long as drugs and caravans of people can cross our border over hundreds of miles from our ports of entry, we have modern day slavery…either it’s a priority to stop this from happening or it’s not.”
Read more in Texas Scorecard »
U.S. impeachment procedures
The United States Constitution provides that the House of Representatives “shall have the sole Power of Impeachment” (Article I, section 2) and “the Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.”
If a serious effort to impeach is taken on by the U.S. House, it is likely to begin with House Homeland Security Chairman Green.