By The opinion
12 Feb 2024, 20:53 PM EST
After last week’s failure, The US Lower House made it official that it will vote on Tuesday whether to subject the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, to an ‘impeachment’ or political trial. whom Republicans accuse of having endangered the country’s security with the entry of undocumented migrants.
In this new vote on the dismissal of Mayorkas, which was already anticipated, Republicans hope he succeeds, thanks to Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s return to Capitol Hill following cancer treatment.
Thus, according to the chamber agenda released this Monday, the Republicans will try for the second time to vote on the charges against the person in charge of Immigration of the Administration of President Joe Biden.
In the first attempt, which occurred on Tuesday of last week, the group, which has a majority in the Lower House, did not obtain sufficient support to carry out the impeachment trial, adding 214 votes in favor against 216 against, all of them Democrats. four Republicans.
The charges with which Republicans seek to accuse Mayorkas, also called articles of ‘impeachment’, are “violation of the public trust” and “systematic and deliberate refusal to comply with the law.” by not properly handling the situation on the border between the United States and Mexico.
If achieved, it will be the first time that the Lower House sends a Government secretary to impeachment in almost 150 years. The only time it has happened was in 1876, when then-Secretary of War William Belknap was impeached but later acquitted by the Senate.
If approved in the Lower House, Mayorkas would face an impeachment trial in the Senate, in which he could be removed if two-thirds of that chamber decide so, an unlikely scenario when taking into account that the Democrats hold the majority.
Republicans accuse Mayorkas of “deliberate and systemic refusal to comply with the law,” based on allegations that he violated immigration laws by failing to detain enough immigrants. as well as “breach of trust,” which accuses him of failing to carry out his responsibilities, deceiving Congress and obstructing its investigation.
On Sunday, Mayorkas told host Kristen Welker on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ that “these are unfounded accusations.”
“They don’t really distract me. “I am focused on the work of the Department of Homeland Security,” added the official.
When asked if he is responsible for the situation at the border, Mayorkas held Congress responsible for passing the legislation, “It is certainly a crisis and, well, we are not responsible for a broken system, and we are doing a lot within that broken system… But fundamentally, fundamentally, Congress is the only one that can fix this.”
The accusations against Mayorkas come at a time when border security is quickly becoming a relevant political issue heading into the 2024 elections. a particularly sensitive line of attack against President Joe Biden, led by former president and potential Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
*With information from EFE.
Keep reading
- Republicans fail in the House of Representatives and fail to remove Secretary Mayorkas
- The Secretary of Homeland Security agreed to testify in the impeachment attempt against him
- Organizations that defend immigrants reject the impeachment of Mayorkas initiated by Republicans