House Republicans drafted two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, accusing him of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and breach of the public trust. Republicans held two impeachment hearings this month without Mayorkas’s testimony or testimony from any fact witnesses. As the Biden administration struggles with the overwhelming surge of migrants at the southern border, lawmakers have yet to detail clear evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors on the part of leaders, reports the Washington Post. Republicans argue in the first article that Mayorkas has failed to enforce U.S. immigration policies disregarded laws passed by Congress and has ignored court orders, allowing for a surge of migration that has resulted in record highs of illegal crossings.
"Congress has a duty to see that the executive branch implements and enforces the laws we have passed,” said Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security. “Yet Secretary Mayorkas has repeatedly refused to do so.” Experts and Democrats say Republicans are abusing a tool in the Constitution to prevent despotic leadership to address a policy dispute. " This markup is just more of the same political games from House Homeland Security Committee Republicans,” a Homeland Security official said. They don’t want to fix the problem; they want to campaign on it." The breach of the public trust charge accuses Mayorkas of making false statements and obstructing oversight of his department. The committee investigation came to a head this month after Green invited Mayorkas to testify at a second impeachment hearing. Mayorkas had a scheduling conflict and offered to testify on another date, but Green moved forward. The hearing was held on a day Mayorkas was preparing to host Mexican officials to discuss migration issues and was negotiating with the Senate on a border security deal. If the House impeaches Mayorkas — which would be the first such act against a Cabinet member in almost 150 years — he is unlikely to be convicted in a Senate trial.