Republican Senators Demand McConnell Guarantee Mayorkas Impeachment Trial

Thirteen Republican members of the United States Senate sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) demanding that he guarantee that a formal impeachment trial for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas following the House of Representatives’ historic vote to impeach him last week.

As reported by Breitbart, Democrats in the Senate, as well as a handful of moderate Republicans, have hinted at blocking the trial from moving forward at all, an unprecedented and unconstitutional move. Mayorkas was impeached on February 13th on two articles of failing to comply with federal immigration law, and breaching the public trust, over his refusal to enforce basic immigration laws and essentially opening the border for all illegal aliens who wish to enter the country.

Despite the formal federal impeachment process requiring a subsequent trial in the Senate following impeachment by the House, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) claimed in a statement, with no evidence, that “House Republicans failed to present evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offense.” Schumer called the vote “a new low for House Republicans.”

“We call on you to join our efforts to jettison this approach by Democrats to shirk their constant duty, ensure that the Senate conducts a proper trial and that every Senator, Republican and Democrat, adjudicates this matter when the Senate returns,” the letter to McConnell reads in part.

“It remains to be seen if the Senate rules will even allow us to brush aside our duty in this manner, but one thing is sure,” the letter continues. “If a similar strategy was contemplated by Senate Republicans while we were in the majority with a Republican occupying the White House, the opposition would be fierce and the volume from Democrats would be deafening.”

Among the 13 senators who signed the letter are Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), and Rick Scott (R-Fla.).

Mayorkas became only the second Cabinet secretary in American history to be impeached, after Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876. The initial impeachment vote one week prior, on February 6th, failed by one vote due to House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) not being present due to health issues. Upon Scalise’s return the following week, the resolution passed by a one-vote margin.