Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has remained silent on the procedure for handling the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. However, various media outlets have reported that Democrats intend to swiftly dismiss the charges before any trial begins.
Democrats have multiple options available to expedite the process, including tabling or dismissing the charges, which only require a simple majority to accomplish.
Senate Republicans successfully persuaded House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to postpone the delivery of the articles of impeachment to the Senate until Monday. This delay was aimed at gaining more time to pressure Democrats into conducting a trial, as reported by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday. The articles were originally set to be delivered on Wednesday.
Senator Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate, remarked on Tuesday that the majority party would approach Mayorkas’ impeachment “with the seriousness it deserves.”
“It’s entirely political. It lacks seriousness,” she stated, according to Politico. “We will take the necessary steps and collaborate with Republicans to dispose of it as swiftly and appropriately as possible. We’ll observe how it unfolds. However, we will do what is required, lawful, and fitting. And we’ll resolve it as soon as feasible.”
Mayorkas becomes the 22nd government official and the second Cabinet member to face impeachment. The House approved two articles of impeachment concerning his handling of the crisis at the southern border: willful and systemic refusal to adhere to the law, and breach of public trust.
Historically, the Senate has conducted a trial in nearly all cases of impeachment. However, there was one exception in 1873 when U.S. District Court Judge Mark Delahay of Kansas, appointed by Abraham Lincoln, was impeached for being intoxicated on the bench. Delahay resigned before the House formulated articles of impeachment, resulting in no trial taking place.
Senator John Kennedy, R-La., emphasized in a news release that the Senate has never previously tabled an impeachment. “Throughout its over 200-year history, despite 21 impeachments by the House of Representatives, the Senate has never tabled impeachment,” he stated. “Not once. Senator Schumer may attempt to dismiss these charges instead of tabling them, but that has also never occurred before. If the Senate dismisses these charges without a trial, it will mark the first instance in the Senate’s lengthy history of dismissing impeachment charges against an official under its jurisdiction without the official first resigning — and that’s a fact.”
Senator Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has similarly called for Schumer to conduct a “full and fair” impeachment trial.
“Secretary Mayorkas has deliberately failed to secure the border during the three years since his appointment,” Tuberville asserted in a news release. “I will vote to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable. … I anticipate that Senate Democrats will seek to table the articles of impeachment and sweep Biden’s border crisis under the rug. Every Democrat in the House has already voted to preserve Mayorkas’ position, essentially endorsing the border crisis. How many more Americans must perish before the Democratic Party takes the drugs, human traffickers, murderers, and terrorists flooding across the border seriously?”
