House Homeland Security Committee approves impeachment articles for DHS Secretary Mayorkas

The Homeland Security Committee for the U.S. House of Representatives approved articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Wednesday morning, according to a 1:38 a.m. report published by the Wall Street Journal.

House Republicans justified the charges based on the secretary’s purported mishandling of the U.S. southwest border amid a migrant crisis that has rocked the nation.

The crisis has even placed strain on Northwestern cities irking Democratic mayors such as Eric Adams in New York City, and previously, Lori Lightfoot of Chicago, who have complained they needed help from the Biden administration with the developing situation.

The new impeachment articles officially make Mayorkas the first sitting Cabinet member ever to be impeached.

The two articles of impeachment passed the committee 18-15 down party lines just after 1 a.m., a move which will precede a floor vote. If Speaker Mike Johnson is able to keep his fellow Republicans in line, the secretary’s referral to the Senate for a trial is certain.

The Republican majority in the House is currently razor thing, but Republicans still have a majority.

Rep. Mark Green, the committee's chairman, released a statement saying that Mayorkas “has willfully and systemically refused to comply with the laws enacted by Congress, and he has breached the public trust.”

The Tennessee Republican added that he believed the DHS secretary has turned the nation upside down from sea to shining sea.

“His actions created this unprecedented crisis, turning every state into a border state.” Green added. "I am proud of the Committee for advancing these historic articles. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right thing, put aside the politics, and agree that before we can fix Secretary Mayorkas' mess, Congress must finally hold this man accountable."

For their part, Democrats conceded they have little chance of stopping the impeachment process in the House and are concentrating on defending the embattled DHS secretary for his expected Senate trial.

They blasted their Republican counterparts of using impeachment as a political weapon to help former President Donald Trump in his 2024 election campaign.

“Shutting down debate on obviously deficient, and baseless, impeachment articles is an act of cowards, plain and simple,” said Rep. Bennie G. Thompson panel’s top Democrat. “As I said earlier, history will judge what Republicans did today, and it won’t be favorably. There is no way this passes constitutional muster.”

The two articles of impeachment allege that Mayorkas breached the public trust by obstructing and lying to Congress, and willfully undermined the immigration system by engaging in selective enforcement of the law.