The US Senate is expected to begin the impeachment trial for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the coming days. However, unlike the lengthy Senate trials held for former President Donald Trump, the Democrat-controlled Senate is looking to bring Mayorkas’ impeachment trial to a swift conclusion, the Associated Press reported.
The Republican-controlled House barely approved the two impeachment articles against Secretary Mayorkas in a 214 to 213 vote on February 13.
The House charged that Mayorkas “willfully and systematically” failed to enforce immigration laws and lied to Congress when he claimed that the southern border was secure.
Under impeachment rules, the Senate is obligated to consider the charges against Mayorkas. However, Senate leaders do not appear eager to spend much time on the trial. A conviction would require a two-thirds vote in the Senate, something that is unlikely as not one Democrat Senator has indicated any support for impeaching the DHS secretary, and even some Republicans, including Utah Senator Mitt Romney, have questioned whether the charges against Mayorkas rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.
The first step in the impeachment trial is for the House impeachment managers to deliver the charges to the Senate and read them on the Senate floor. So far, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has not said when this would happen.
Once the senators are sworn in as jurors and a summons is issued to the official being tried, the Senate will then decide how to proceed.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has not said how he plans to proceed. However, he is expected to dismiss the trial by bringing either a motion to dismiss or a motion to table the two articles of impeachment. Both options would only require a simple majority of 51 votes – something Democrats could achieve if all 51 Democrats and Democrat-caucusing Independents vote to dismiss or table the impeachment articles.
While some Republicans have expressed opposition to convicting Mayorkas on the two impeachment articles, it is not clear if those Republicans would agree to dismiss or table the charges without a trial.
