The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday will hold its first impeachment hearing for Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas as Republicans push to impeach the top Biden administration official over the border crisis and Democrats decry the move as partisan politics.
The hearing comes as the House GOP majority ramps up its scrutiny of the administration on multiple fronts. House Republicans continue to pursue an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and are taking steps this week toward holding the president’s son Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress. But with the Biden probe moving methodically and a number of Republicans still skeptical about impeaching the president, senior Republicans now believe targeting Mayorkas will be an easier lift as the border crisis becomes a defining campaign issue.
House Republicans have lambasted Mayorkas over what they’ve claimed to be a dereliction of duty as border crossings have reached record highs, laying the groundwork for impeachment proceedings. If the Homeland Security secretary is impeached, it would be an exceedingly rare event. Only one Cabinet official has ever been impeached in American history – Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
“The House Committee on Homeland Security has conducted a comprehensive investigation into Secretary Mayorkas’ handling of, and role in, the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border,” a committee spokesperson said in a statement. “The Committee will ensure that the public is aware of the scope of Secretary Mayorkas’ egregious misconduct and refusal to enforce the law, but also that this process is completed promptly, and accountability is achieved swiftly — as the American people have demanded.”
Democrats have countered, saying that Republicans are pursuing an impeachment push rooted in partisan politics and that policy disputes hardly…
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