House postpones transferring Mayorkas impeachment to Senate

The GOP-led House has opted to delay sending impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border crisis to the Democrat-controlled Senate next week.

Instead of conducting the handoff on Wednesday — which was part of a plan announced two weeks ago — the lower chamber will now wait until at least Monday, according to the office of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).

“To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week,” Johnson spokesperson Taylor Haulsee said in a statement. “There is no reason whatsoever for the Senate to abdicate its responsibility to hold an impeachment trial.

House lawmakers passed two impeachment articles in February that accuse Mayorkas of “willfully and systemically” refusing to comply with federal immigration laws, and the other alleged he “breached the public trust” with false statements and obstructing lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Although roughly two months have passed, Senate Republicans asked Johnson to delay sending over the articles until at least Monday to give them more time, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) said. There had been reporting that said Democrats expected to dismiss the impeachment charges before a full trial could take place.

“We’re going to try to resolve this issue as quickly as impossible. Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) told reporters on Wednesday. His office previously said senators would be sworn in as jurors a day after the House impeachment managers present their articles to the Senate and Senate President Pro Tempore Patty Murray (D-WA) would preside.

A two-thirds vote is required for a conviction in the Democrat-led Senate, which would lead to removal from office. But the articles may not make it far with a motion to table, which, according to the Senate glossary, is “a proposal to set aside any pending question. Used to dispose of a question the Chamber does not want to consider further. Agreement to the motion is equivalent to defeating the question tabled.”

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Democrats have criticized the impeachment proceedings as a “political stunt,” while Mayorkas pushed back against what he called “false accusations” levied against him. A DHS spokesperson reacted to the successful House impeachment vote by saying, “House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border.”

There has been talk among Senate Republicans, too, that suggested not every GOP member would oppose a motion to dismiss. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) would not rule it out, according to The Hill, as he said the Biden administration’s border policy was “damaging,” but did not rise to the level of a “high crime or misdemeanor.”