(WatchDogReport.org) – The US Senate officially dismissed the impeachment case against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on April 17, with a final result of 51 to 48. The vote, which was split along party lines, took place before the trial started, setting aside two allegations accusing Mayorkas of breaching public trust and failing to uphold US immigration laws.
The dismissal represents a significant hit to the Republican Party’s efforts to impeach Mayorkas, whom they have blamed for the border crisis that the country has been experiencing during the Biden administration. While most political analysts predicted that the Senate would dismiss the impeachment case against him, many Republican senators have been saying that they would still try as it was the proper move against Mayorkas. Despite the declarations against him, the secretary has said that he wouldn’t resign even if the impeachment case were approved.
While every single Democrat voted in favor of dismissing the first charge as unconstitutional, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was the only one among Republicans who decided to vote “present.” However, she joined the rest of GOP senators in voting against the dismissal of the second charge against Mayorkas.
Senate Majority Leader and New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer said that no cabinet member could be formally impeached or removed for executing the policies of the presidential administration. He also said that allowing the impeachment case against Mayorkas would have been the validation of a “gross abuse” committed by the House of Representatives.
The secretary was the first cabinet member in the history of the United States to have an impeachment case against him. While US Secretary of War William Belknap was also impeached back in 1876, he decided to step aside a couple of minutes before the Senate voted.
Legal experts have been divided over Mayorkas’s case. Some believe that the accusations he has been receiving could be impeachable offenses, and others think that the case against the secretary is completely groundless.
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