Impeachment trial of Alejandro Mayorkas: Senators are sworn in as jurors as Democrats seek to quickly dismiss charges against Biden’s border secretary
- The Senate initiated Homeland Security Sec. The impeachment trial of Alejandro Mayorkas Wednesday afternoon
- The Republican Party-led effort is expected to end soon, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said earlier in the day he will vote to dismiss the charges
- Senators were sworn in as jurors on Wednesday shortly after 1:30 p.m
Senators were sworn in as jurors in the Homeland Security Sec. The impeachment trial of Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday is expected to move quickly.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, performed the swearing-in of Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., who serves as president pro tempore of the Senate.
After she was sworn in, Murray began swearing in the rest of the Senate to begin the impeachment trial.
The senators were gathered into groups of four and walked to the front of the chamber to sign the oath book, confirming their role as jurors in Mayorkas’ impeachment.
Mayorkas is the first Cabinet official to be impeached in nearly 150 years, but charges against him will soon be dropped by Democrats because there are not enough Republican Senate votes to convict him.
Senators were sworn in as jurors in the Homeland Security Sec. The impeachment proceedings against Alejandro Mayorkas Wednesday shortly after 1:30 p.m
House Republicans voted in February to impeach Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors related to his handling of the U.S. border and for lying to Congress
Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to impeach Mayorkas in February and delivered the articles to the Senate on Tuesday.
They argue that Mayorkas’ handling of border security has been appalling. An estimated nine million illegal immigrants have entered the US since he first came to power.
The Secretary has overseen multiple record highs for apprehensions of illegal immigrants in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has claimed that Republicans are playing politics with this impeachment and said he would vote to dismiss the charges, meaning his party will surely follow suit and Mayorkas will keep his job.
“It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this blatantly partisan exercise, an exercise that both conservative and liberal legal scholars agree falls short of the high standards demanded by impeachment,” Schumer said Wednesday ahead of the Senate process.
“I will seek an agreement for a period of debate so that Republicans can vote on trial resolutions, have an opportunity to raise points of order and then proceed with dismissal.”
The Democratic leader’s decision to dismiss the charges is sure to anger Republicans.
On Monday, Chairman Johnson signed the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas and said the Senate must hold a full trial.
“The catastrophe at the southern border is the number one problem for the American people,” Johnson said. “We must hold those who caused this crisis fully accountable.”
“While it will force him to deal with the crisis his party and the president have created, Senator Schumer must hold a public trial on the impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas.”
Republican senators have also been arguing for weeks that it is the Senate’s duty to hold a full trial on the issue.
They say it is their duty to listen to the case presented by the House of Representatives’ 11 impeachment managers, who would act as prosecutors in the trial.
More to come.