While most Senators want Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to declare the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas dead on arrival in the upper chamber, some Senate Republicans are demanding a trial.
“Our Republican colleagues in the House have recently passed two articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law, as well as the breach of public trust,” more than a dozen Republicans, led by Senators Marsha Blackburn and Mike Lee, wrote in a letter to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell Wednesday. “Those articles will soon be transmitted to the Senate. It is imperative that the Senate Republican conference prepare to fully engage our Constitutional duty and hold a trial.”
"According to multiple briefings by your staff, Majority Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats intend to dispense with the articles of impeachment by simply tabling both individually. This is an action rarely contemplated and never taken by the U.S. Senate in the history of our Republic. 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, if a similar strategy was contemplated by Senate Republicans when 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," the letter continues.
"We call on you to join us in our efforts to jettison this approach by Democrats to shirk their Constitutional duty, ensure that the Senate conducts a proper trial, and that every Senator, Republican and Democrat, adjudicates this matter when the Senate returns," they said.
Meanwhile Mayorkas has repeatedly said he has no plans to resign.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says he won’t resign if impeached https://t.co/SZS5fAGh3E #FoxNews
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) February 7, 2024