House Republicans are moving along two tracks to put pressure on Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas as investigations into border security begin amid new calls for his impeachment.
On Tuesday, Republican Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona announced on the Fox News show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that he would bring impeachment proceedings against Mayorkas on Wednesday morning.
Biggs said Congress is given the constitutional responsibility to “remove somebody from office, a public official from office, who is causing public harm and violating the public trust.”
“That is impeachment,” he said. “And I think that is the, quite frankly, the most pressing remedy that we need to avail ourselves of with Alejandro Mayorkas.
“What he has done is absolutely, in my opinion, it’s unconscionable. He’s literally attacked the essence of this country by attacking the geographical integrity, and he’s changing so much, he’s put so many people in danger.
“We’ve got terrorists here that would never have been here. We’ve got criminal gang members. And we’ve got well over a million people here — we have no idea anything about their background, where they went, because they just got away into the country — because of his policies.”
It's gone for too long.
Secretary Mayorkas' actions are putting Americans in harm's way when he is supposed to be protecting them.
Tomorrow morning I will officially introduce my impeachment articles against him to finally remove him from office. pic.twitter.com/t82TEKrhG7
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 1, 2023
The impeachment process has two steps. First, the House must decide whether an official should be charged, and then a trial is conducted in the Senate on those charges.
Given that the House has a slim GOP majority, passage there would require near-unanimous support among Republicans. Because the Senate has a Democratic majority, conviction on the charges would require Democrats to join forces with Republicans.
Biggs explained why he believes Mayorkas’s conduct had risen to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“High crimes means that you are a public official, and you have violated the public trust, and you have to be removed,” he said, according to Fox News.
“He basically got rid of every policy that was working,” Biggs said.
“Quite frankly, the first thing that goes when a country is actually devolving is when you lose your geographical integrity,” the congressman said. “And Secretary Mayorkas — that’s his main job — he has willfully imposed his own dangerous policies on us. It’s not negligence. It’s not incompetence. It’s willful.”
Biggs is not the first House lawmaker to call for Mayorkas’ impeachment.
In early January, Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas introduced his own articles of impeachment.
“Secretary Mayorkas has violated the law and his implemented policies that undermine law enforcement activities at our southern border,” Fallon said in a statement at the time.
“From perjuring himself before Congress about maintaining operational control of the border to the infamous ‘whipgate’ slander against our border patrol agents, Secretary Mayorkas has proven time and time again that he is unfit to lead the Department of Homeland Security,” the congressman said.
“His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office.”
Not all Republicans are on board, according to Politico.
“I do think what’s going on at the border is negligence, dereliction of duty, but I’m not convinced that impeaching Mayorkas is going to solve the problem. I think we need the election in 2024 to change the White House,” Republican Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said.
But first will come hearings.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, is beginning hearings on the border this week, while Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, will do so next week.
Republican Study Committee Chairman Rep. Kevin Hern of Oklahoma said getting the facts out is likely to boost support for impeachment.
“I think when you lay the case out as any impeachment happens, I think [support] grows. Obviously, it’s not going to happen instantaneously,” Hern said.
