Washington — House Republicans are moving quickly on advancing impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, holding their second and final hearing on the matter in eight days.
At Thursday’s hearing before the House Homeland Security Committee said, lawmakers will hear from an Arizona sheriff and people whose family members have died as a result of fentanyl overdoses or violent crime.
Republicans have repeatedly accused Mayorkas of failing to enforce the nation’s laws as a record number of migrants arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, has criticized the impeachment effort as a “baseless” political attack and Democrats have argued there is no legal basis for impeaching Mayorkas.
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images
Ahead of the hearing, House Republicans and DHS clashed over whether Mayorkas will appear in person during the impeachment proceedings. Republicans wanted Mayorkas to attend this week’s hearing, but he declined, citing a conflicting meeting with Mexican officials about border enforcement. The secretary agreed to testify, but asked to coordinate a time that works for his schedule.
GOP Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, the committee’s chairman, on Wednesday asked Mayorkas to provide written testimony for Thursday’s hearing “so that our committee members may hear from you directly,” according to a letter obtained by CBS News.
“As stated in earlier letters to you, your perspective on the crisis at the border and actions you have taken as secretary are valuable for the members of the committee and the American public to hear. Regretfully, every invitation for almost half a year we extended to you to testify focused specifically on the border crisis has been rejected or subject to endless delay tactics,” Green said.
Punchbowl News first reported on the letter.
DHS said Mayorkas has testified before Congress more than any other Cabinet official — 27 times in less than three years. The committee has also not communicated with the department in the last week about alternate dates for Mayorkas to testify, a spokesperson said.
“This is just the latest example of Committee Republicans’ sham process. It’s abundantly clear that they are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn’t fit into their bad-faith, predetermined and unconstitutional rush to impeach him,” spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement Wednesday.
Attorneys general from Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri testified at the first impeachment hearing, highlighting the impact of migration on their states under Mayorkas’ leadership. They attributed drug and trafficking incidents in their communities to the surge of migrants at the southern border.
Even if the GOP-controlled House impeaches Mayorkas, it is highly unlikely that he would be convicted in a trial in the Senate, which has a Democratic majority and would require a vote of two-thirds of senators to remove him from office. But Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet official to be impeached since 1876.
Nikole Killion, Nicole Sganga and Camilo Montoya-Galvez contributed reporting.
How to watch the Mayorkas impeachment hearing
- What: The House Homeland Security Committee holds its second and final impeachment hearing for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
- Date: Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024
- Time: 9:30 a.m.
- Online stream: Live on CBS News in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device.
