Senate Shirks Its Constitutional Duty by Refusing to Hold a Trial on Mayorkas’ Impeachment

On April 17, the U.S. Senate took the unprecedented step of dismissing the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that were passed by the House of Representatives in February. Never in the history of our republic has the Senate refused to carry out its constitutional obligation to adjudicate lawfully approved articles of impeachment against a government officialThe purpose of this unprecedented move was unmistakable: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wanted to hide the mountain of evidence detailing Mayorkas’ dereliction of duty as DHS secretary. After all, burying the impeachment trial was not needed to prevent the Secretary’s ouster. Senate Majority Leader knew the Democratic-led Senate would not reach the two-thirds majority necessary to convict Mayorkas of the charges set forth in the articles of impeachment. Nevertheless, Schumer used procedural maneuvers to prevent the trial from taking place because he knew exactly how badly the evidence would sit in the court of public opinion.

The articles of impeachment laid out seven specific provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act that Mayorkas has violated, and detailed the numerous times the secretary has knowingly lied to Congress and the American people to hide the results of his disastrous policies. These charges were clearly sufficient to warrant a Senate trial to determine if Secretary Mayorkas should be removed from office.

After all 100 senators were sworn-in as jurors, pledging to fairly evaluate the evidence against Mayorkas, Sen. Schumer introduced a point of order calling for the dismissal of the first of the two articles of impeachment, calling it unconstitutional. Schumer argued that that the article did not allege conduct that rises to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor. Of course, the purpose of a trial is to make that determination, but the trial never got underway. 

The first point of order was approved by a 51-48 vote. All Democrat Senators voted in favor, while 48 Republicans Senators voted against, and Alaska Republican Lisa Murkowski voted present. The procedure was quickly repeated with the second article of impeachment, with a majority of Senators ruling it unconstitutional before even a single piece of evidence was presented. This time the vote was 51-49, with Sen. Murkowski joining her Republican colleagues in opposing it. 

With no articles of impeachment left to consider, Schumer immediately called for a vote to end the trial which, again, was approved by a 51-49 vote. The trial of Secretary Mayorkas on impeachment charges, constitutionally approved by the House of Representatives, was over before it began. 

The Senate’s actions may have prevented a public hearing of the evidence that led to Mayorkas’ impeachment in the House, but it cannot hide the impact that the unprecedented flood of illegal immigration is having on their lives and communities, and the dangers it poses to the security of the country. Americans all across the country will continue to live with the impact of Mayorkas’ refusal to faithfully carry out the duties of his office.