|
An
official
Senate
photograph
shows
senators
taking
the oath
at the
start of
the
Senate
impeachment
trial on
Wednesday.
(From
U.S.
Senate) |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Department
of
Homeland
Security
(DHS)
Secretary
Alejandro
Mayorkas
testifies
before a
Homeland
Security
Subcommittee
hearing
on the
DHS
budget
request
on
Capitol
Hill, in
Washington,
U.S.,
April
10,
2024.
REUTERS/Michael
A.
McCoy/File
Photo |
| |
U.S.
House
impeachment
charges
against
Mayorkas
'Dead on
Arrival'
in
Senate
By Li
Huang
tellususa.com
WASHINGTON
- The
Senate
voted to
dismiss
two
articles
of
impeachment
against
Department
of
Homeland
Security
Secretary
Alejandro
Mayorkas,
which
alleged
that he
mismanaged
an
influx
of
migrants
at the
U.S.-Mexico
border.
Both
votes
were
along
party
lines.
The
impeachment
trial of
the
first
sitting
Cabinet
secretary
came to
a close
a little
over
three
hours
after it
started,
after
Republicans
quickly
quashed
an
opportunity
for
limited
debate
and the
creation
of an
impeachment
committee,
marking
a rapid
close to
the
first
impeachment
of a
sitting
cabinet
secretary.
Democrats,
voting
along
party
lines,
found
the
first
article
charging
Mayorkas
with
“willful
and
systemic
refusal
to
comply
with the
law" to
be
unconstitutional.
Sen.
Lisa
Murkowski
(R-Alaska)
voted
present.
Democrats
voted
again
along
party
lines,
finding
the
second
article
charging
Mayorkas
with
“breach
of
public
trust”
also to
be
unconstitutional.
The
trial
came to
a
conclusion
before
the
House
impeachment
managers
could
present
their
argument.
Shortly
after
opening
the
trial,
Senate
Majority
Schumer
(D-N.Y.)
offered
Republicans
a period
of
debate
time and
the
opportunity
to
create
an
impeachment
committee,
which
was
sharply
rejected
by Sen.
Eric
Schmitt
(R-Missouri).
Schumer
swiftly
responded
with a
point of
order to
declare
the
first
article
of
impeachment
against
Mayorkas
unconstitutional,
prompting
the
first of
several
procedural
objections
by
Republicans
that
followed.
Sen. Ted
Cruz
(R-Tex.)
called
to move
the
Senate
to a
closed
session;
Sen.
John
Kennedy
(R-La.)
motioned
to
adjourn
the
Senate
until
April
30; and
Senate
Minority
Leader
Mitch
McConnell
(R-Ky.)
called
to table
the
point of
order
made by
Schumer.
Each
objection
made by
Republicans,
who are
in a
relatively
powerless
position
in the
minority,
failed.
At
times,
Republicans
attempted
to
deliver
extended
remarks
on the
House
floor,
blaming
Mayorkas
and
Democrats
for the
record-breaking
levels
of
migration
at the
southern
U.S.
border.
Sen.
Patty
Murray
(D-Wash.)
repeatedly
interceded
as her
GOP
colleagues
tried to
make
their
points
of order
into
political
statements,
interrupting
Sen.
John
Thune
(R-S.D.)
as he
described
the
border
crisis
in a
long-winded
introduction
to
another
failed
procedural
vote.
Some
senators
appeared
bored at
their
small
desks as
Republicans
made
procedural
point
after
procedural
point,
forcing
a series
of
failed
votes to
delay
the
trial
and
other
matters.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
