Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Senate Democrats did not hold an impeachment trial of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Two articles of impeachment were dismissed.
“The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors,” Schumer said ahead of the trial. “To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.”
“Let’s not kid ourselves about what’s going on today: the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas has nothing to do with high crimes and misdemeanors and everything to do with helping Donald Trump on the campaign trail,” he added. “Secretary Mayorkas has not been accused of treason or accepting bribes or unlawfully attacking our elections or anything of the sort. He has not been accused of criminal wrongdoing.”
Schumer claimed that the Mayorkas impeachment was an “illegitimate and profane abuse of the U.S. Constitution.”
The event is the first time in 225 years that the Senate dismissed the impeachment charges instead of holding a trial or referring the matter to a committee.
BREAKING: The Senate has voted 51-49 to adjourn the impeachment trial of Sec. Mayorkas, ending the impeachment. pic.twitter.com/Sel3BLFZD0
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 17, 2024
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) released a statement after the Senate failed to hold an impeachment trial.
“By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility, every single Senate Democrat has issued their full endorsement of the Biden Administration’s dangerous open border policies,” they wrote. “Secretary Mayorkas alongside President Biden has used nearly every tool at his disposal to engineer the greatest humanitarian and national security catastrophe at our borders in American history.”
“Tragically, Senate Democrats don’t believe this catastrophe merits their time or a discussion on the Senate floor. Instead, they’re signaling to millions demanding accountability that the cabinet official directly responsible for this disaster – who has ignored the law and misled Congress repeatedly – is above reproach. The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display.”
