Senate Democrats voted to quash a Mayorkas impeachment trial over Republican objections that such a move violates the Constitution.
Senate Democrats on April 17 voted to dismiss two impeachment articles against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, less than three hours after his impeachment trial began.
The dismissals, made in party-line votes, came after vocal objections by Senate Republicans who said not allowing the impeachment to go to a full trial flouted the Constitution and long-held precedent. It is the first time in history the upper chamber has moved to dispose of a trial before allowing the impeachment articles to be heard and votes on whether to convict or acquit.
House Republicans in February voted to impeach Mr. Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis that has seen more than 8 million illegal immigrants enter the country since President Joe Biden took office. The first impeachment article accused Mr. Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws; the second article charged him with breaching public trust and making false statements to Congress.
Shortly after all 100 senators were sworn in as jurors for the trial, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) raised points of order to effectively dismiss each of the two articles of impeachment against Mr. Mayorkas on the grounds that they were “unconstitutional.”
The impeachment articles, Mr. Schumer contended, did not meet the threshold of “high crimes and misdemeanors” required under the Constitution. Mr. Schumer has previously described Mr. Mayorkas’s impeachment as a “sham,” an awful precedent for Congress,“ and the result of a ”policy disagreement.”
The Senate voted on party lines 51–48 to dismiss the first impeachment article. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) voted present.
The chamber later voted on party lines 51–49 to dismiss the second impeachment article.
Senate Republicans raised a series of motions to thwart Mr. Schumer’s moves, arguing the Constitution required a full impeachment trial. Each of those attempts was defeated in party-line votes.
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) said the Senate majority leader was “setting our Constitution ablaze and bulldozing 200 years of precedent.”
By Mark Tapscott and Jackson Richman
