The Biden administration is comprised of less than scrupulous cabinet members who keep finding themselves in trouble now that the Republicans are in control of the House and have real power and authority to hold them accountable. Earlier this week, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) made clear Secretary of State Antony Blinken could be held in contempt of Congress and even face criminal charges for not complying with a subpoena ordering the State Department to hand over a classified cable.
Blinken isn't the only disgraced member of the administration, far from it. Republicans have been sounding the alarm on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from the start when it comes to his mishandling of the southern border.
It's not just Republicans, though, as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has been critical of Mayorkas, when she was a member of the Democratic Party and now as an Independent. The situation is even more urgent with last week's end of Title 42. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), who is running to replace Sinema and who has been particularly harsh towards the former Democrat, at least has in common with her that he too is concerned with Mayorkas.
On Sunday, both Mayorkas and Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) of the House Committee on Homeland Security were guests on CNN's "State of the Union."
While speaking to host Dana Bash, Mayorkas repeatedly claimed they have "been planning" for such a transition, and he even bragged "it's extraordinary what we have done over the past 18 months or so." Oh, it's "extraordinary," all right, just not in the way Mayorkas likely intended it to mean.
Biden DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — who has overseen the worst border crisis on record — says "it's extraordinary what we've done over the past 18 months or so." pic.twitter.com/JFiCElfpvN
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) May 14, 2023
Bash also previewed her interview with Green, as she pointed out that he "has indicated he wants to impeach you for the way that you have handled the border crisis. Are you worried that that process is going to start? And how will you react?"
Mayorkas not only provided a non-answer, he arguably made the case for why it's even more worthwhile to impeach him since he doesn't appear to be taking his role very seriously at all. That especially includes when it comes to prioritizing the crisis at the southern border.
"I am focused on the work in front of us, meeting the challenge, not only with respect to the Southern border, but meeting the challenge of cyber, the cyber threat from cyber criminals and adverse foreign nation states," he claimed. "I am focused on the increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events. I am focused on the adverse actions of the People's Republic of China, North Korea, Iran, Russia. I am focused on the work of the Department of Homeland Security. I will continue to focus on that work throughout my tenure," Mayorkas went on to also offer, trying to claim climate alarmism is within his purview.
Sure enough, Bash indeed did ask Green about impeachment.
Upon being asked if he thought Mayorkas "has committed an impeachable offense" as well as "and, if so, what is it," Green made clear "I have been very careful not to say, let's impeach Secretary Mayorkas, because I don't have that authority in my committee." That would be for the House Judiciary Committee to act upon if and when Mayorkas were to be impeached.
What Green does have, he indicated to Bash, "is a responsibility for oversight," as he explained they're "going to look very closely at the failures of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas." Later on in the segment Green argued that "I would be negligent in my job not to look into this guy's performance" to "show the American people how he's failed." In addition to pointing out that "I know for a fact [Mayorkas] lied to Congress under oath," Green laid out "a five-phase accountability plan."
Rep. Mark Green: We Have Five-Point Accountability Plan Looking Into DHS Mayorkas Dereliction of Duty pic.twitter.com/APMEuRbfDx
— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) May 14, 2023
"I mean, he took an oath to the Constitution, right? And his job is to execute the laws, not write them or make them up himself. And his interim final rule to just speed people into the country is an excellent example of them just making up the laws, which we are the ones, we write the laws in Congress," Green pointed out when explaining one of the examples going against Mayorkas. "He executes the laws, right, as the executive branch."
He also went on to speak about "the human cost of this open border," including and especially when it comes to deaths caused by fentanyl.
Green also spoke about such a plan while appearing on FOX Business' "Varney & Co" in January, one of the many instances in which he has vowed to hold Mayorkas accountable.
As Bash had mentioned, Green has discussed impeachment before. Last month, a headline from The New York Times declared "Key Republican Tells Donors He Will Pursue Impeachment of Mayorkas." It was referring to Green.
Just as he did when discussing impeachment with Bash, Green referred to the role that the Judiciary Committee plays, while also referencing the "five-phase accountability plan." As is mentioned in The New York Times report:
Representative Mark E. Green told an enthusiastic crowd in his home state of Tennessee last week that his committee would expose Mr. Mayorkas’s “dereliction of duty and his intentional destruction of our country through the open southern border.” He said the panel would deliver charges to the House Judiciary Committee, which handles impeachment proceedings, according to an audio recording of a House Freedom Caucus fund-raiser obtained by The New York Times.
He said he had a “five-phase plan” for doing so and that the Homeland Security Committee would “put together a packet, and we will hand it to Jim Jordan and let Jim do what Jim does best.”
Mr. Green apparently was referring to Representative Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who leads the Judiciary panel. His comments made clear that G.O.P. leaders are serious about their threats to impeach Mr. Mayorkas. He said the plan would start with an appearance by the secretary before his committee on Wednesday.
Green is hardly the only Republican member who is part of this discussion. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has been speaking to the importance of impeaching Mayorkas for over a year, even before Republicans had control of the chamber.
Roy on Tuesday spoke with Jack Riccardi on KTSA radio, during which he argued in favor of impeachment, emphasizing how Mayorkas has been lying, including under oath about control of the border. Referring to Mayorkas as someone who "is completely abandoning his duty to enforce the laws the United States to our detriment," Roy made clear "that is someone who needs to be impeached."
He also went on to tell Riccardi that Mayorkas, if he actually "cared about enforcing the law, and was carrying out his duty," would either resign or would push back against Biden, "and not actually lie about it."
Roy was also one of many Republican members mentioned in CNN's report from Tuesday morning, "Mayorkas impeachment pressure builds inside the House GOP."
"I think it’s a matter of just trying to work it through," he told the outlet. "We’re having the conversations that we need to have. But I think there’s a strong consensus building that he needs to be impeached." Others mentioned for their support for impeachment included Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), which is to be expected since she has already supported resolutions to impeach Mayorkas before and repeated that call last October.
But still others included House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH), as well as Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who filed articles of impeachment in January, and Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA). Perhaps most notable is House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN). The CNN report mentioned that his support amounts to "a sign that the movement is growing from the fringe to the mainstream of the GOP."
And there are those not mentioned in the report who have called for Mayorkas' impeachment, including Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-TX), who called it "long overdue."
Secretary Mayorkas' impeachment is long overdue. pic.twitter.com/HoEmi7W6Or
— Rep. Monica De La Cruz (@RepMonicaDLC) May 5, 2023
It does sound like Republicans are, in fact, serious about impeaching Mayorkas for clear "dereliction of duty," but they also know they have to be smart about it.