Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before the House Homeland Security Committee Wednesday, where Republicans laid the groundwork for the Secretary's impeachment.
Chairman of the committee, Mark Green (R-Tenn.), even went as far as accusing the Cabinet official of high crimes and misdemeanors. According to the New York Times, Rep. Green had announced his plans to begin the impeachment process to a group of donors last week. Green made sure to follow through with his promise right off the bat.
In his opening statement, the Congressman lambasted Sec. Mayorkas for stating in a previous House hearing on April 28, 2022, that the Biden Admin. had "operational control" of the border. "Operational control" is a quantifiable term first defined in the 2006 Secure Fence Act.
Representative Green opened:
[Rep. Chip] Roy reads the very definition you just admitted last month in the Senate that has not been achieved. According to this definition, do you have operational control? According to the definition that you just said, 'No one has operational - has ever had operational control.' He asks you under oath, in the United States Congress, if you had operational control according to that definition, and you said, 'I do.'
That is a false statement because you admitted in the Senate that no one had ever achieved that. You make it very clear, Mr. Secretary, that you've known all along, according to the definition that is written in the law passed by the Congress, that you do not have operational control. And yet in testimony to this House, under oath, the definition was read to you. You've asked, 'According to that' — you're asked, 'According to that definition, whether control exists. And you say, 'Yes.' That sounds like a lie under oath.
After Rep. Green's statements, other Republicans began to hold the Secretary accountable for his complete lack of action in stopping the historic Biden Border Crisis. For example, Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) stated that he believed the Secretary had violated 11 laws over his past two years and three months as head of DHS.
The Washington Examiner explains the sudden focus on the DHS Secretary.
Republicans had stamped a bullseye on Mayorkas when they took the House in January, but the public calls to remove him from office had died off in recent weeks as the party pivots to legislating. But Wednesday's actions indicate Republicans may chase both items simultaneously.
Since January, House committees have held more than a handful of hearings in Washington and at the southern border, where a record-high five million noncitizens have been encountered attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. Lawmakers said they would investigate and build a case against Mayorkas.
Some Representatives, however, appear to need no more convincing of the Secretary's wrongdoing. Congressmen Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Pat Fallon (R-Texas) have already debuted articles of impeachment against Mayorkas.
House Oversight Committee member Pat Fallon (R-TX) put forth three articles of impeachment, which 42 others have since co-sponsored.
"Fallon's spokesman maintained in a statement to the Washington Examiner this week that anything short of impeaching Mayorkas would fall short of what the party "promised" to do before taking office," reports the Examiner.
You can read the complete article here.
