Mayorkas Impeachment Fail Sparks Republican Outrage

After the Democrat-controlled Senate dismissed the impeachment case against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Republican lawmakers quickly expressed outrage on social media.

A number of Republicans had previously expressed concerns that Democratic leadership in the upper chamber would kill off the impeachment trial before it began. On Wednesday, the Senate voted along party lines to dismiss the two charges against Mayorkas. House Republicans impeached the secretary on their second attempt in February, accusing the secretary of ignoring immigration laws and making “false statements” about the U.S.-Mexico border.

With a vote of 51 to 48, with one senator voting “present,” the Senate ruled the first charge was unconstitutional because it failed to meet the constitutional bar of a high crime or misdemeanor. While Democrats were unanimous, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the lone “present” vote.

Murkowski joined her party in voting against the dismissal of the second count on the same grounds, but that count was also dismissed with a 51-to-49 vote.

Multiple Congressional conservatives took to X, formerly Twitter, to blast the votes.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, posted: “Sad but true. Democrats are willing to throw the Constitution in the trash to defend DHS Secretary Mayorkas.”

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, wrote: “It would be unprecedented for the U.S. Senate to dismiss impeachment charges without holding a trial. Every American should be incensed by this.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, posted: “After impeaching Donald Trump twice in under two years, the Dems today decided they don’t like impeachment after all – and voted to do away with it. Always principled.”

Mia Ehrenberg, a DHS spokesperson, in a statement to Newsweek, criticized Republicans for “wasting time” instead of working on border reforms.

“Today’s decision by the Senate to reject House Republicans’ baseless attacks on Secretary Mayorkas proves definitively that there was no evidence or Constitutional grounds to justify impeachment,” Ehrenberg said. “As he has done throughout more than 20 years of dedicated public service, Secretary Mayorkas will continue working every day to enforce our laws and protect our country. It’s time for Congressional Republicans to support the Department’s vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of commonsense, bipartisan border reforms.”

This is a developing news story and will be updated.