The House Homeland Security Committee is moving forward with the impeachment of Department of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, as proceedings are scheduled to start Jan. 10, Punchbowl News reported Wednesday.
Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., said last month at the conclusion of the panel's probe that it has provided House Republicans with enough evidence to impeach the secretary. Green accused Mayorkas of misusing taxpayer funds and intentionally ignoring border security measures.
"Our investigation made clear that this crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas' decision-making and refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress and that his failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability," Green told Punchbowl News. "The bipartisan House vote in November to refer articles of impeachment to my committee only served to highlight the importance of our taking up the impeachment process – which is what we will begin doing next Wednesday."
There has been surge of migrants seeking asylum in the U.S., with Customs and Border Protection reporting 10,000 border crossings a day, according to The Messenger.
In November, Mayorkas narrowly escaped impeachment as moderate Republicans broke from their party and referred the inquiry to the committee instead of holding an up-or-down vote.
Although there have been multiple presidential and judicial impeachment proceedings of presidents and judges in recent decades, this would be the first impeachment of a Cabinet secretary since Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, according to Punchbowl News.
The procedure is basically the same, with a majority of the House needing to vote against him in order to send it to the Senate, which would then hold a trial, with two-thirds of senators needing to vote to convict in order to remove Mayorkas from office.
DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told Punchbowl News the House GOP has "no valid basis" for an impeachment of Mayorkas.
"The House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote," Ehrenberg said.