Mike Johnson names Marjorie Taylor Greene as Mayorkas impeachment manager
Speaker Mike Johnson has named Marjorie Taylor Greene as one of the House managers for the possible impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
This comes after Ms Greene filed a motion to vacate after Mr Johnson made a deal with Democrats to fund the government until late September.
The Georgia Republican was named as a manager alongside Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest, and Reps Andy Biggs, Ben Cline, Andrew Garbarino, Harriet Hageman, Clay Higgins, Laurel Lee, and August Pfluger.
Ms Greene previously threatened to oust Mr Johnson in January. No Republicans have signed on to her motion to vacate to remove Mr Johnson and there’s speculation that some Democrats may vote to save him if it comes to that. But Ms Greene has insisted she doesn’t want “chaos”.
In a letter on Thursday, the impeachment managers and Mr Johnson told Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that they’ll send two charges to the upper chamber on 10 April, urging the Senate leader to “schedule a trial of the matter expeditiously”.
They’re accusing Mr Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law and his breach of the public trust”.
The charges being sent means that the Senate has to formally bring up the charges but a conviction is highly unlikely as the chamber is controlled by Democrats, who have already slammed the impeachment as baseless and flimsy. Mr Schumer may decide to vote to dismiss the charges immediately, hold a full trial, or refer it to a special committee, The Hill noted.
The Republicans wrote in their letter to Mr Schumer that “The evidence on both charges is clear, comprehensive, and compelling, and the House’s solemn act to impeach the first sitting Cabinet official in American history demands timely action by the Senate”.
Two-thirds of the Senate has to vote to convict for the measure to pass.
After failing to vote to impeach Mr Mayorkas, House Republicans managed to get a one-vote majority on the matter, 214 to 213, on 13 February. Three Republicans joined all Democrats to vote against the impeachment.
While Mr Schumer hasn’t revealed how he’ll handle the charges, he has strongly criticised the impeachment.
“This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans. The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump,” he said in a statement on 13 February. “House Republicans failed to produce any evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has committed any crime.”
“House Republicans failed to show he has violated the Constitution,” he added, arguing that they “failed to present any evidence of anything resembling an impeachable offence”.
Pushing back in their Thursday letter, House Republicans wrote that Mr Mayorkas “directed, through a series of memoranda, DHS employees to violate US immigration laws”.
“Throughout his tenure, he has repeatedly lied to Congress and the American people about the scope of the crisis and his role in it,” they claimed. “His unlawful actions are responsible for the historic crisis that has devastated communities throughout our country, from the smallest border town in Texas to New York City.”
Senate Republican Leaders, including Whip John Thune and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, have both called for a full trial.
The last impeachment trial of a cabinet secretary took place in 1876 when War Secretary William Belknap was acquitted after facing charges of “criminally disregarding his duty … and basely prostituting his high office to his lust for private gain”.
“The House did not impeach Secretary Mayorkas because of ‘differences in policy,’” Ms Hageman wrote on X. “He has violated the law and must be held accountable. The Senate has an obligation to hold a trial, to hear the evidence presented, and to seriously deliberate after the evidence is heard.”
“Time for the senate to fulfill our duty and hold a full trial,” Ohio Republican Senator JD Vance said.
White House spokesman Ian Sams noted on X: “Here’s what REPUBLICAN Senators have said about this phony Mayorkas impeachment: ‘Waste of time’ ‘Dead on arrival’ ‘The worst, dumbest exercise and use of time’.”