Mayorkas Impeachment Fail Sparks Republican Outrage

After the Democrat-controlled Senate dismissed the impeachment case against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Republican lawmakers quickly expressed outrage on social media.

The Context

A number of Republicans had previously voiced concern that Democratic leadership in the upper chamber would kill off the impeachment trial before it began. On Wednesday, the Senate voted along party lines to dismiss the two charges against Mayorkas. House Republicans impeached the secretary on their second attempt in February, accusing him of ignoring immigration laws and making "false statements" about the U.S.-Mexico border.

By a vote of 51 to 48, with one senator voting "present," the Senate ruled the first charge was unconstitutional because it failed to meet the bar of a high crime or misdemeanor. While Democrats were unanimous, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the lone "present" vote.

Murkowski joined her party in voting against dismissal of the second count, on the same grounds, but it was also dismissed, 51 to 49.

What We Know

Multiple congressional conservatives took to X, formerly Twitter, to blast the votes.

Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, posted: "Sad but true. Democrats are willing to throw the Constitution in the trash to defend DHS Secretary Mayorkas."

In a subsequent post, Cruz added, "The Senate failed to vote to remove Alejandro Mayorkas from office. In November, the American people will."

Marsha Blackburn, GOP senator from Tennessee, wrote: "It would be unprecedented for the U.S. Senate to dismiss impeachment charges without holding a trial. Every American should be incensed by this."

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, posted: "After impeaching Donald Trump twice in under two years, the Dems today decided they don't like impeachment after all—and voted to do away with it. Always principled."

In a joint statement from House Republican leaders that was shared on X by Speaker Mike Johnson, the GOP lawmakers accused the Senate of "ignoring its constitutional duty" to hold an impeachment trial.

"Secretary Mayorkas alongside President [Joe] Biden has used nearly every tool at his disposal to engineer the greatest humanitarian and national security catastrophe at our borders in American history," Johnson said. "Tragically, Senate Democrats don't believe this catastrophe merits their time or a discussion on the Senate floor."

The Views

Mia Ehrenberg, DHS spokesperson, in a statement to Newsweek, criticized Republicans for "wasting time" instead of working on border reform.

"Today's decision by the Senate to reject House Republicans' baseless attacks on Secretary Mayorkas proves definitively that there was no evidence or Constitutional grounds to justify impeachment," Ehrenberg said. "As he has done throughout more than 20 years of dedicated public service, Secretary Mayorkas will continue working every day to enforce our laws and protect our country. It's time for Congressional Republicans to support the Department's vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of commonsense, bipartisan border reforms."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer shared a series of posts on X, weighing in on the failed impeachment effort.

"The GOP proved this whole impeachment was a political show," the New York Democrat wrote. "We offered times to have an open debate and votes on multiple resolutions offered by the GOP. They denied our fair and reasonable offer."

In a separate post, Schumer added: "Impeachment should NEVER be used to settle policy disagreements."

What's Next?

With the two votes on Wednesday, the Senate dismissed the case against Mayorkas. While the Republican-led House could try for a third attempt to remove Biden's Cabinet member, it would likely succumb to the same fate in the upper chamber.

Update 04/17/24, 7:55 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.