WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate has dismissed all impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ending the House Republican push to remove the Cabinet secretary from office over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two votes effectively ended the trial before arguments ever began. Senators voted separately to dismiss the two articles of impeachment, arguing that they were unconstitutional.
The first article charged Mayorkas with "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law." The second article charged Mayorkas with a "breach of trust" for saying the border was secure.
Republicans had argued for a full impeachment trial against Mayorkas.
An outright dismissal of House Republicans' prosecution of Mayorkas, with no chance to argue the case, is an embarrassing defeat for House Republicans and embattled House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who made the impeachment a priority. And it is likely to resonate politically for both Republicans and Democrats in a presidential election year when border security has been a top issue.
Republicans argue that President Joe Biden has been weak on the border as arrests for illegal crossings skyrocketed to more than 2 million people during the last two years of his term, though they have fallen from a record-high of 250,000 in December amid heightened enforcement in Mexico. Democrats say that instead of impeaching Mayorkas, Republicans should have accepted a bipartisan Senate compromise aimed at reducing the number of migrants who come into the U.S. illegally.
(© Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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