The Republican-led House of Representatives last week voted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in its second attempt, but the effort is all but doomed in the United States Senate, where Democrats and Republicans have expressed skepticism of the impeachment's merit.
Axios reports that Trump-aligned Senate Republicans are now running to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in an effort to get him to force Democrats to at least hold a trial for Mayorkas.
"13 Republicans, led by Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Texas), plan to send a letter to McConnell on Tuesday morning, demanding they 'fully engage our Constitutional duty and hold a trial,'" the publication writes. "A Democratic effort to dismiss the impeachment articles would be 'an action rarely contemplated and never taken by the U.S. Senate,' the senators argue."
The report also brings word that Lee and Cruz met recently with the Senate parliamentarian and asked for a ruling on whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) can simply hold a majority vote to dismiss the charges, or whether he will have to hold a full trial.
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Every impeachment vote of an American president has led to a trial in the United States Senate, but the vote to impeach Mayorkas is the first impeachment of a Cabinet official since the 19th Century, so there is little recent precedent to rely upon.
In addition, many senators, including some Republicans, have argued that nothing in the Mayorkas articles of impeachment amounts to the high crimes and misdemeanors described in the United States Constitution as legitimate grounds for removing a president or a member of his administration.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) described the impeachment articles as "dead on arrival" and described the impeachment of Mayorkas as the "dumbest exercise and use of time."
Republicans in the House spearheaded Mayorkas' impeachment charge, arguing that he was derelict in his responsibilities to control migration at the southern border. Their allegations, however, have consistently been vague as to what law or laws he is supposedly violating or not enforcing.
The Department of Homeland Security has been in charge of border patrol ever since the agency was founded in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The impeachment effort also comes after former President Donald Trump successfully pushed Republicans in the House and Senate to oppose a bipartisan border security agreement that would have given Mayorkas and the Biden administration greater tools and stronger mandates to remove certain migrants and improve border security.
