The U.S. Senate is unlikely to convict Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to impeach him on Tuesday.
The House voted 214 to 213 in favor of impeachment, following a failed vote on impeaching Mayorkas last week, and the matter will now be sent to the Senate, where Democrats have a slim majority.
The move to impeach Mayorkas comes as Republicans have continued to criticize President Joe Biden's administration for its handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The GOP-led House shot down a bipartisan Senate border security bill last week, with conservatives arguing that the bill doesn't go far enough to end illegal immigration into the U.S.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the legislation was "dead on arrival" in the House.
The GOP-controlled House Committee on Homeland Security brought two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, accusing him of having "violated his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States by willfully and systemically refusing to comply with federal immigration laws and acting in a manner subversive of the rule of law."
Mayorkas is the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876, but it is unlikely he will be convicted or removed from office.
In a statement on Tuesday shared with Newsweek and other news outlets, Biden strongly criticized the vote.
"History will not look kindly on House Republicans for their blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games," Biden said.
The process for impeaching a cabinet secretary is laid out in the U.S. Constitution, which grants the Senate "sole power" to conduct a trial after the House has brought articles of impeachment. The Constitution requires a two-thirds majority of senators present to secure a conviction.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office said in a statement on Tuesday that the House impeachment managers will deliver the articles of impeachment to the Senate on February 26.
"The House impeachment managers will present the articles of impeachment to the Senate following the state work period," Schumer's office said. "Senators will be sworn in as jurors in the trial the next day. Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray will preside."
However, it remains to be seen if the Democrat-led Senate will conduct a trial. The majority could potentially vote to acquit Mayorkas or otherwise dismiss or delay the impeachment.
Schumer called the impeachment vote "a new low for House Republicans."
"This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans," Schumer said. "The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump."
Newsweek has reached out to Schumer's office for further comment.
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma said that the impeachment effort would not succeed in the Senate in comments to reporters on Tuesday.
"It'll fail in the Senate," Lankford said. "If I could use the House term, it'll be dead on arrival when it comes over."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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