WASHINGTON — House Speaker Mike Johnson says he sent impeachment charges against Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday, forcing senators to convene a trial on allegations that the Homeland Security secretary “deliberately and systematically” refused enforce existing immigration laws. But the procedure may not take long.
While the Senate is required to hold a trial under impeachment rules once charges are filed by the Capitol, Democrats are expected to seek to dismiss or file charges before arguments get underway.
Majority Democrats have said the Republican case against Mayorkas does not raise the “high crimes and misdemeanors” enshrined in the Constitution as a bar to impeachment, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., likely has enough votes to end it to create. immediately terminate the process if he decides to do so. The procedure doesn’t start until Wednesday.
In opening the Senate for this week, Schumer said he wants to “address this issue as quickly as possible.”
“Impeachment should never be used to resolve a disagreement over policy,” Schumer said. “That would set a terrible precedent for Congress.”
Senators will be sworn in as jurors on Wednesday, turning the chamber into a court of impeachment. The Senate will then call on Mayorkas to inform him of the allegations and request a written response. He will not have to appear in the Senate at any time.
What happens next is unclear. Impeachment rules generally allow the Senate to decide how to proceed.
Republicans have argued that there should be a full trial. As Johnson signed the articles Monday in preparation to send them through the Capitol, he said Schumer should hold a trial to “hold fully accountable those who created this crisis.”
“Senator Schumer is the only barrier to accountability to the American people,” Johnson said. “Pursuant to the Constitution, the House demands a trial.”
The House of Representatives narrowly voted to impeach Mayorkas in February over his handling of the border. House Republicans charged in two articles of impeachment that Mayorkas not only refused to enforce existing law but also betrayed the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure used to be. It was the first time in almost 150 years that a cabinet secretary had been removed.
Johnson has since delayed sending the articles to the Senate for weeks while both chambers completed their work on government funding legislation and took a two-week recess. Johnson had said last week he would send them to the Senate, but backed off again after Senate Republicans said they wanted more time to prepare.
Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the Senate’s No. 2 Republican, has said the Senate should hold a full trial in which it can examine the evidence against Mayorkas and reach a final conclusion.
“This is an absolute debacle at the southern border,” Thune said. “It’s a national security crisis. There must be accountability,” he said.
Schumer could call a vote to file charges and end the trial as soon as Wednesday. However, before a removal vote is taken, a group of House managers – members who act as prosecutors and are appointed by the Speaker – will tour the articles through the Capitol and deliver the impeachment charges to be read on the Senate floor .
House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, a Tennessee Republican and one of the impeachment managers, said earlier this month that he believes Democrats “have failed to find the moment to end this crisis and solving the chaos at our borders.”
“Conducting an impeachment trial is a unique opportunity to correct course,” he said.
Other impeachment managers appointed by Speaker Johnson include Michael McCaul of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ben Cline of Virginia, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Laurel Lee of Florida, August Plfuger from Texas and Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia.
After jurors are sworn in, Senate Republicans will likely try to raise a series of objections if Schumer calls for a vote to dismiss or table, an effort to both protest and delay the move. But ultimately, they can’t block a dismissal if the majority of Democrats have the votes.
While most Republicans oppose a quick dismissal, some have hinted they could vote with Democrats.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said last week he was unsure what he would do if there was an attempt to dismiss the trial. “I think it is almost certain that there will be no conviction of anyone if the constitutional test is not met,” he said.
At the same time, Romney said he would at least express his opinion that “Mayorkas has done a terrible job, but he is following the president’s directions and has not met the constitutional test for a high crime or misdemeanor.”
In any case, Republicans would not be able to gain the support of the two-thirds of the Senate needed to convict and remove Mayorkas from office. Democrats control the Senate, 51-49, and they appear united against the impeachment effort. Not a single Democrat from the House of Representatives supported it either.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat facing a tough re-election bid in Ohio, called the impeachment trial a “distraction,” arguing that Republicans should instead support a bipartisan border compromise they scuttled earlier this year.
“Instead of this impeachment – the first in 100 years – why don’t we make a bipartisan border deal?” he said.
If Democrats fail to reject or bring the articles to the floor, they could follow the precedent of several impeachment trials before federal judges over the past century and hold a vote to create a trial committee to review the would investigate allegations. While there is plenty of precedent for this approach, Democrats may prefer to end the process entirely, especially in a presidential election year when immigration and border security are top issues.
If the Senate proceeds with an impeachment trial, it would be the third in five years. Democrats impeached former President Donald Trump twice, once over his dealings with Ukraine and a second time in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The Senate acquitted Trump both times.
During a trial, senators would be forced to remain in their seats for perhaps weeks while House impeachment managers and attorneys representing Mayorkas argue their case. The Senate may also call witnesses if it decides to do so, and may ask questions from both sides after opening arguments conclude.
Mayorkas told reporters last week that he was not focused on Senate work. In a twist, he will testify on his budget request Tuesday before the same House committee that led the impeachment proceedings.
“I hope my time is not taken away from my work,” Mayorkas said.