The U.S. Senate, which is controlled by the Democratic Party, has rejected all articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas endorsed by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
Senators voted 51-48 and 51-49 along party lines on April 17 to reject the two articles of impeachment, which stems from the secretary's refusal to execute his duties as head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to secure the open U.S. border. According to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), the charges failed to meet "the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors." He added that the impeachment could set a dangerous precedent if it was pursued.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) released a statement following the vote. He claimed that the decision to reject the articles of impeachment proves that Democrats essentially endorse the open border policies advocated by President Joe Biden and overseen by Mayorkas.
"By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility, every single Senate Democrat has issued their full endorsement of the Biden administration's dangerous open border policies," the statement from Johnson said. "The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also rebuked the vote to dismiss the charges against Mayorkas. He claimed that the Democratic-controlled Senate was ignoring the will of the House of Representatives.
"We've set a very unfortunate precedent here – which means the Senate can ignore, in effect the House's impeachment," said the senator for the Bluegrass State. "It doesn't make any difference whether our friends on the other side thought he should have been impeached or not: He was."
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"By doing what we just did, we have – in effect – ignored the directions of the House, which were to have a trial. We had no evidence, no procedure. It's not a proud day in the history of the Senate.
Democrats laud upper chamber's rejection of Mayorkas impeachment
The DHS praised the dismissal, claiming that the upper chamber's vote "proves definitely that there was no evidence or constitutional grounds to justify impeachment." DHS spokeswoman Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement: "It's time for Congressional Republicans to support the [DHS's] vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of common-sense, bipartisan border reforms."
Even the Biden administration hailed Senate Democrats for dismissing the charges. "Once and for all, the Senate has rightly voted down this baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional," said Ian Sams, spokesman for the Office of the White House Counsel.
Meanwhile, Schumer remarked that the charges against Mayorkas put forward by the House GOP were policy disputes and not high crimes. Thus, it was important to set a precedent, he added. The senator for the Empire State ultimately called the case "an illegitimate and profane abuse of the Constitution."
"Secretary Mayorkas has not been accused of treason, accepting bribes, unlawfully attacking our elections or anything of the sort. He did not blackmail a foreign power to dig dirt on a political opponent, not did he incite a violent mob to wage an insurrection against the peaceful transfer of power," Schumer said, taking an obvious swipe at former President Donald Trump.
For his part, Mayorkas reiterated that he's focused on the work of his department. During an event to launch a campaign for children's online safety in New York City held on the same day as the vote, he defended the DHS's lackluster performance when it comes to border security.
"The Senate is going to do what [it] considers to be appropriate as that proceeds," the secretary said. He also pointed out that the nation's immigration system is "fundamentally broken and only Congress can fix it." (Related: Gaslighter Mayorkas "washes hands" and denies responsibility for the border crisis.)
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Watch Fox News host Jesse Watters discussing the House of Representatives' delivery of Mayorkas' articles of impeachment to the Senate – which the upper chamber ultimately rejected.
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