Republicans clash with Mayorkas ahead of final impeachment hearing

The second and final impeachment hearing into Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas ‘ handling of the southern border catastrophe is occurring Thursday – without the secretary. It comes amid a clash between the GOP and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) over making the secretary available for questioning.

Top Republican Mark Green says his committee’s multiple requests for Mayorkas to publicly testify have been rebuffed by DHS over the last six months, and he is reportedly ‘considering’ a contempt of Congress charge. Notably, the committee has previously subpoenaed Mayorkas for documents related to Afghan vetting and other information, but not for testimony. It is unclear if a fresh subpoena would be issued first before Republicans move forward with a contempt citation.

DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg accused the GOP of engaging in a ‘sham’ impeachment process and said Mayorkas would ‘make himself available’ to testify before the committee – but the January 18 date did not work because he is hosting a Mexican delegation. A GOP aide brushed off the agency’s response, telling DailyMail.com that this is just the latest in a pattern of delaying and not engaging in good faith by DHS.

And now that the final hearing is rapidly approaching, Republicans reversed course and demanded in a Wednesday letter to Mayorkas that he at least provide written testimony, calling it his ‘last chance.’ The DHS spokesperson fired back, saying since Mayorkas’ offer to testify publicly last week, the committee ‘failed to respond to DHS to find a mutually agreeable date.’ ‘Instead, they provided this offer of written testimony to the media before any outreach to the Department,’ Ehrenberg continued.

‘It’s abundantly clear that they are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn’t fit into their bad-faith, predetermined and unconstitutional rush to impeach him.’ She also noted Mayorkas has testified on Capitol Hill more than any other Cabinet official – 27 times since taking the job. After the final hearing, the committee’s next step would be marking up articles of impeachment as soon as by the end of the month.

If Republicans succeed in impeaching Mayorkas, he would be the first Cabinet official to be impeached in nearly 150 years. Doing so would require near-total Republican unanimity given their narrow, three-seat majority. Thursday’s hearing will feature Cochise County, Arizona, Sheriff Mark Dannels and Tammy Nobels, whose son was allegedly killed by MS-13 gang members. The final impeachment hearing comes as border crossings have reached a record high, surpassing 2.4 million in fiscal year 2023, according to government figures released in October. Just last month alone crossings at the southern border were more than 300,000.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released more than 2.3 million migrants into the United States at the southern border under the Biden administration, according to DHS. Meanwhile, the White House and Senate negotiators are trying to salvage a sprawling immigration and foreign aid deal. House Republicans have expressed skepticism at the negotiations led by their Senate counterparts – insisting they will only accept the hardliner border bill passed in the House last year.

And ahead of a meeting at the White House Wednesday afternoon, Speaker Mike Johnson threw cold water on any deal brokered by the Senate . The first impeachment hearing occurred last week and brought President Biden’s border policy to the center stage. Top law enforcement witnesses from across the country blamed Mayorkas for the negative effects of fentanyl and increase in crime due to illegal crossings at the border into their communities.

The first impeachment hearing came after nearly a year of investigations and reports put out by the House Homeland Security Committee. The House Homeland Security Committee led by Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., has been investigating Mayorkas and compiling a comprehensive report of his ‘dereliction of duty’ over several months. In November, the Hose voted to refer articles of impeachment drafted by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to his committee in a 209-201 vote. Green said that the referral highlighted the ‘importance of our taking up the impeachment process,’ which is continuing. Read the full story: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12975123/republicans-impeachment-alejandro-mayorkas-hearing.html?ito=msngallery

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