In the House's second impeachment proceeding of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, amid what could be a long drawn-out road to a Senate trial, the Biden administration has gone on offense, calling the GOP's process "rushed."
Mayorkas was scheduled to appear at the second impeachment inquiry hearing organized by the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday but declined to do so. Nonetheless, Homeland Security Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., gave Mayorkas an out, warning him that this was his "last chance" to answer for his handling of the southern border and submit a written testimony.
But in response, the DHS, along with Democrats, bucked the good-face effort, moving instead toward political offense.
DHS press secretary Mia Ehrenberg told the Washington Examiner in a statement published Wednesday, "It's abundantly clear that they," the Republicans, "are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn't fit into their bad-faith, predetermined, and unconstitutional rush to impeach him."
But in Congressman Green's warning to Mayorkas, sent early Wednesday morning, the chair claimed the DHS secretary refused to appear and had not made time for testimony since late last summer.
Ehrenberg issued the following statement on Wednesday to Green's comments, a day before the hearing: "Last week, the Secretary offered to testify publicly before the Committee; in the time since, the Committee failed to respond to DHS to find a mutually agreeable date. Instead, [Republicans] provided this offer of written testimony to the media before any outreach to the Department.
"Republicans have yet again demonstrated their preference for playing politics rather than working together to address the serious issues at the border. … This is just the latest example of Committee Republicans' sham process."
Mayorkas will have until Jan. 28 to submit his written testimony for the record.
Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, Customs and Border Protection has detained more than 8.5 million migrants, according to the New York Post. Of these, 7 million were apprehended after crossing the Mexico border.
The crux of the illegal migrant issue centers around the debate that those crossing into the US illegally are, according to Democrats, asylum seekers.
According to Fox News, during a recent meeting at the overrun entry port of Eagle Pass, Texas, Mayorkas told CBP agents that more than 85% of those crossing are asylum seekers.
The first impeachment hearing on Jan. 10 devolved into a debate over whether the secretary's handling of the border amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors. During the event, Democrats questioned the legal grounds for the committee proceedings, framing the affair as nothing more than differences of opinion on migration. Conversely, Republicans maintained that Mayorkas was either unwilling to stop or was intentionally allowing millions of illegal migrants to cross the southern border.
The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., stated during the first hearing that the committee's initial focus — investigating Mayorkas on the basis of his "dereliction of duty" — was irrelevant because it is not a high crime or misdemeanor.
"You cannot impeach a Cabinet secretary because you don't like a president's policies," Thompson stated. "That's not what impeachment is for. That's not what the Constitution says."