Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for High Crimes and Misdemeanors

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, this extreme MAGA Republican stunt to impeach Secretary Mayorkas is baseless. The Democratic staff of the Committee on Homeland Security thoroughly documented the many failures of fact and law in the articles of impeachment contained in H. Res. 863. I include in the Record the key findings and introduction of the Democratic staff report. The full report can be found online at https://democratshomeland.house.gov/ download/homelanddemimpeachmentreportfinal. Committee on Homeland Security, Minority Staff Report, January 29, 2024. key findings

Republicans are abusing Congress' impeachment power. Impeachment is an extraordinary remedy under the United States Constitution. It is not a tool for policy or political differences, and constitutional scholars and even some Republicans agree. The Framers never intended for the legislative branch to wield its impeachment power to extort policy changes from the executive branch, and they certainly did not intend for the impeachment power to be used to placate extreme factions of Congress.

The Republicans' impeachment scheme is a sham. Republicans' baseless investigation into Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is a politically motivated sham to appease extreme MAGA Members and partisan special interest groups. This impeachment has never been about Secretary Mayorkas' record, as the effort began not long after he was confirmed. In their rush to reach a predetermined outcome, House Republicans have failed to provide the most basic due process considerations to Secretary Mayorkas.

Secretary Mayorkas is upholding the law and honoring the public trust. Secretary Mayorkas has not violated the law, let alone committed ``high Crimes and Misdemeanors''--the Constitutional standard for impeachment. Secretary Mayorkas is carrying out President Biden's policies in good faith within resource constraints. He is following the law and has been responsive to Congress and the American people.

Republicans are sabotaging Secretary Mayorkas' efforts to secure the border. The Biden administration--including Secretary Mayorkas--is working to solve the challenges at our border in an orderly, humane, and lawful way. Secretary Mayorkas has implemented new initiatives to stop dangerous drugs from entering our communities; cracked down on smugglers and cartels; and increased personnel, technology, and infrastructure at our borders. Unfortunately, Republicans are intentionally sabotaging these efforts by voting against necessary funding because they prefer a political wedge issue to policy solutions.

Republicans are perpetuating challenges at the border to help re-elect Donald Trump. Republicans are using Secretary Mayorkas as a scapegoat for the longstanding challenges at our southern border. They are playing the political blame- game to deflect attention from their failure to take meaningful action on border security and immigration legislation and provide necessary border security funding. Republicans should stop this sham effort and instead work with Democrats to enact border and immigration legislation and provide the Department of Homeland Security the funding it needs to carry out its mission. I. INTRODUCTION

Since its formation in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Committee on Homeland Security (the Committee) has distinguished itself through dedication to serious legislative and oversight work under the leadership of chairmen from both parties. The frantic, partisan rush to consider House Resolution 863, Impeaching Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, for high crimes and misdemeanors, represents a betrayal of that hard-earned legacy.

Sadly, in the 118th Congress, the willingness of Republicans to waste their credibility on political stunts comes as no surprise. MAGA Republicans have wasted their opportunity to make progress on immigration and border security policy. The challenges at our borders are real--but Republicans have failed even to engage in a conversation about bipartisan legislation to address them. They have failed to provide necessary funding requested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They have failed to provide resources for officers and agents at the border, failed to fund the immigration judges necessary to handle the influx of asylum claims, and failed to condemn the cruel and deceptive acts of State and local Republicans who look to score cheap political points by treating migrants as less than human.

To distract from this abject failure and appease the most extreme elements of the Republican Conference, Republican leadership launched a baseless impeachment investigation into Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. This impeachment is without precedent, without basis in the law, and a total waste of time. Among its many fatal flaws, this wholly partisan impeachment effort:

Fails to articulate any charge that might constitute ``Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.''

Fails to provide evidence to support the charges, such as they are.

Fails to name the proper target for impeachment in a policy dispute with the executive branch, if indeed a policy dispute is ever grounds for impeachment.

Fails to provide due process to Secretary Mayorkas.

Fails to address any of the real challenges at our Nation's borders.

Perhaps this shoddy effort is what Democrats should have expected months ago, when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia insisted to her leadership that ``[s]omebody needs to be impeached,'' without specifying any particular target or reason for the impeachment. REPUBLICAN ABUSE OF POWER

Instead of working to find commonsense, bipartisan solutions to address immigration reform and border security-- which are necessarily and inextricably intertwined-- Republicans have, from the very earliest days of Secretary Mayorkas' time in office, turned to character assassination. Although their inability and unwillingness to enact new policy is to blame, Republicans are angry that the Biden administration has implemented its own border security and immigration policies to enforce the law commensurate with the resources provided by Congress. Secretary Mayorkas is carrying out those policies, as is his duty.

This report documents the failed basis for this sham impeachment effort and provides the facts behind the Biden administration's efforts to address the challenges at the southern border in an orderly and humane way, consistent with the law.

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