Republicans Set To Move Forward on Mayorkas Impeachment Proceedings

House Republicans will kick off 2024 by initiating impeachment proceedings against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. According to Punchbowl News, the House Committee on Homeland Security plans to hold its first impeachment hearing against the secretary next week. 

In November, the House voted to refer an impeachment resolution against Mayorkas to the Homeland Security committee over the objections of hardline Republicans, and with eight GOP representatives voting alongside Democrats. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) withdrew a second attempt to impeach the secretary later that month, citing guarantees by Republican leadership that the party would move forward on the matter at a later date — a promise that is now coming to fruition. 

“Our investigation made clear that this crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas’ decision-making and refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and that his failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability,” Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) told Punchbowl News. “The bipartisan House vote in November to refer articles of impeachment to my committee only served to highlight the importance of our taking up the impeachment process — which is what we will begin doing next Wednesday.”

In a statement reacting to the news, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said, “The House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote.”

Republicans have hammered President Joe Biden’s immigration policy since the beginning of his term, and border control is set to be a critical issue for Republicans in the 2024 election cycle. President Donald Trump, the current frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has promised a widespread crackdown on undocumented immigration should he retake the presidency. 

As previously reported by Rolling Stone, Trump — who has accused migrants of “poisoning the blood of our country” — plans to bestow sweeping powers upon himself on “day one” of his presidency and will attempt to use that authority to deploy thousands of U.S. troops to the southern border. The New York Times reported in November on the former president and his allies’ plans to build an extensive network of migrant detention camps.