MAGA Throws Down Gauntlet to Senate: 'Remove Mayorkas'

MAGA Republicans have urged the U.S. Senate to remove Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after the House voted on Tuesday to impeach him.

In a historic rebuke, the House impeached Mayorkas in a 214-213 vote amid Republican outrage over the Biden administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The House approved two articles of impeachment accusing Mayorkas of not enforcing existing immigration laws and making false statements to Congress. He is the first U.S. Cabinet secretary charged in nearly 150 years.

The charges against Mayorkas next go to the Senate—where Democrats hold a slim majority—for a trial, but it is unlikely that senators would vote to oust him.

Several House Republicans, including top allies of former President Donald Trump, have taken to social media to urge the Senate to act to remove Mayorkas. Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, has pledged to launch "the largest domestic deportation operation" in history if he reclaims the White House.

"Alejandro Mayorkas has just been impeached by the House of Representatives. His open-borders policies have led to ACTUAL death and destruction within our country," Rep. Lauren Boebert wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

"It is now incumbent upon the Senate to take this up and remove this man from office. He has NO place in our government."

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who will serve as an impeachment manager in a potential Senate trial, also called on the Senate to take up the matter.

The House "has finally impeached Secretary Mayorkas for his dereliction of duty & inviting the invasion of America," she wrote on X.

She added: "To the Senate: the American people demand you uphold your oath & hold a trial and remove Mayorkas for breaking federal law."

Rep. Harriet Hageman of Wyoming wrote: "Mayorkas willfully disregarded his oath to uphold our laws & repeatedly lied to Congress about his role in the border crisis & censorship of US citizens—the House held him accountable. As an impeachment manager, I will help make this case to the Senate."

President Joe Biden blasted the impeachment of Mayorkas as a"blatant act of unconstitutional partisanship that has targeted an honorable public servant in order to play petty political games."

Mayorkas has "spent more than two decades serving America with integrity in a decorated career in law enforcement and public service" and has "demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that make our nation great," the president said in a statement.

Mia Ehrenberg, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the impeachment was "baseless" and "unconstitutional."

"House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country," Ehrenberg said in a statement emailed to Newsweek.

"Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe."

Mayorkas did not appear to testify before the impeachment proceedings, but has pointed to Congress for failing to update immigration laws.

"There is no question that we have a challenge, a crisis at the border. And there is no question that Congress needs to fix it," he said on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

"And we're doing everything we can within that broken system, short of legislation, to address what is a not just a challenge for the United States but one throughout our region."

Update 14/2/23, 4:15 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.