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Reports indicate that the United States Senate is poised to abandon – or quickly table – its Constitutional duty of holding a trial for the now impeached Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.  This is a flagrant abuse of constitutional order and precedents of its own body.  And it comes against the backdrop of the House’s grueling work to adhere to our rules and hold the Biden Administration accountable for its refusal to comply with immigration laws passed by Congress.  I was one of the few House Republicans to vote to keep the impeachment procedures within the committee process and in keeping with regular order – a process that House Republicans doubled down on earlier this Congress.  It’s now time for the Senate to do its job and hold a full trial of Secretary Mayorkas – anything less would be a dereliction of duty ironically in line with the violations of Mayorkas himself.

When I voted to keep the impeachment process of Mayorkas with the committee of jurisdiction, I stated then that shortcuts couldn’t be an option if there was any hope of the Senate following our lead and holding Mayorkas accountable via impeachment. I also stated that we shouldn’t be taking a page out of the Democrat playbook by holding a “snap” impeachment akin to what the Democrats did to President Trump in 2021.  I certainly took potshots from elements of my party for doing so at the time, but I vote methodically and according to the rule of law and what is right morally.   While process and that vote gave rise to misguided political animus that was levied at me and other Republicans who voted to allow the House Homeland Security Committee to finish its investigation, it produced a stronger set of impeachment articles with even sharper teeth – which I was both proud to cosponsor and vote in favor of. We did our job by the book, refused to cut corners, and set novel precedent while doing so. In the end, I’m proud that my fellow House Republicans came to my position and committed to doing the hard work of a full impeachment inquiry, investigation, the committee process, and the successful impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas.

The Senate must respect the nearly year-long, five-phased investigation by the House Homeland Security Committee and the duly passed articles of impeachment.  The charges were of utmost consequence and were brought to avert a Constitutional crisis.  Mayorkas refused to comply with the laws passed by Congress and breaching the public trust by lying to Congress about the security of the border and the actions he took.  Actions like specifically directing through written memoranda that DHS employees violate immigration laws. 

Think about the chaos that has engulfed not only the southern border, but also the entire nation under Secretary Mayorkas’ watch. According to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 7.2 million illegal aliens have been encountered at the southwest border since President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas took office. There have been north of 1.8 million known “gotaways” that have evaded CBP and escaped into the United States. Since Fiscal Year 2021, more than 300 individuals on the terrorist watchlist have attempted to cross the nation’s southern border illegally. Sadly, the list goes on and on.

If the Executive Branch won’t enforce the laws we pass, Congress has few options of recourse. We could refuse to fund Mayorkas and his department, but in what way would this further border security?  Truly, impeachment is the only option left standing.  The Senate must face these facts.  It mustn’t run from our oral arguments, the review of evidence, and debate.  It must hold a full trial and do its duty as opposed to putting its head in the sand. The fabric of our Constitution – the separation of powers – might very well be at stake. I call on the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty by holding a full trial for these impeachment articles and hold the Biden Administration accountable for its abuse of the rule of law. The American people are watching.

Published in the Greensboro News & Record