While House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) indicated on Monday night and again on Tuesday that impeachment could be coming for President Joe Biden, the same fate is likely to come for other cabinet members as well. On Tuesday, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released a memo indicating their support for impeaching Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to the Daily Caller. The memo serves as the RSC official position.
The memo contained a whole host of grievances against Mayorkas, as well as outlined the severity of impeachment. "Hundreds of years of precedent and multiple modern impeachments indicate that 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors' is not limited to the actual violations of criminal law, but also includes any misconduct that is damaging to the State – which includes betrayals of constitutional order, neglect of duty, and violations of public trust," the memo explained.
"Secretary Mayorkas’s tenure has been one of willful destruction to the United States, beyond the point of incompetence and maladministration," the memo went on read. "There is plain evidence that in his role as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Mayorkas has perjured himself before Congress, deceived the public and Congress concerning the scope and nature of the humanitarian and security disaster fomenting at the border, failed to faithfully execute immigration laws enacted by Congress, and even attempted to monitor and police speech that is critical of the Biden administration."
Although the crisis at the southern border was not the only issue raised, it was a significant one outlined in the memo.
"The United States is witnessing an invasion, and, instead of repelling it, Secretary Mayorkas is using any means necessary, including violating the Immigration and Nationality Act, to welcome it," the memo also warned. "Under Secretary Mayorkas, the United States has suffered record illegal immigration, spikes in fentanyl trafficking and fentanyl poisoning deaths, and ten-fold increases in encounters with illegal aliens on Terrorist Screening Databases. This has resulted in record cartel profits, countless criminal aliens being ferried into cities across the country, increased migrant deaths, and a demoralized Border Patrol."
What followed were pages of examples of what Mayorkas has done to warrant impeachment, especially but not merely as it applies to the southern border.
As reporting from the Daily Caller summarized:
The caucus alleges that Mayorkas “perjured himself before Congress” by testifying that his agency had “operational control” of the southern border, showed “pervasive dishonesty” about the scale of the crisis at the southern border and threatened Americans’ free speech with the formation of a DHS Disinformation Governance Board. Under Mayorkas’ leadership, migrant encounters have hit new records at the southern border, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recording more than 2.3 million in fiscal year 2022 and more than 1.7 million between October 2022 and June.
In addition to his mishandling of the border, the memo also raises the issue of how "Secretary Mayorkas has threatened Americans’ First Amendment rights to free speech." This includes even just plans for a disinformation governance board, which was ultimately disbanded. With original emphasis, the memo pointed out that "the attempt to create such an Orwellian government entity may itself be impeachable."
As the memo goes on to mention, litigation to do with the Missouri v. Biden case has also revealed further how the Biden administration was censuring Americans though collusion with Big Tech.
"Secretary Mayorkas' behavior continues to threaten the integrity of the constitution and the rule of law. While Impeachment is an extraordinary measure, it is absolutely necessary when faced with a Cabinet Secretary who willfully acts in subversion of the confines of Congressional authority and the letter of the law," the memo read in conclusion. "The House of Representatives should thoughtfully pursue impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas as his actions meet the constitutional standard of 'high Crimes and Misdemeanors.'"
It's not just members of the RSC who have raised concerns with Mayorkas. The memo also references oversight from the Committee on Homeland Security, chaired by Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), who, as the Daily Caller report also mentions, "has stopped short of calling for Mayorkas’ impeachment and is waiting to take a position on the matter until his probe concludes."
Green also provided insight about impeaching Mayorkas at a Heritage Foundation event earlier this month.
It has long been a question as to whether or not Republicans will go through with impeaching Mayorkas, with the matter even having been raised in previous sessions of Congress, before Republicans controlled the chamber. Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) filed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas in January, not long after the 118th Congress began. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) filed articles of impeachment in August 2021.
Mayorkas will appear before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday morning for oversight on his department.