United States – On Tuesday, the Republican-controlled lower house of Congress will probably refer the impeachment of the key border security official Trump supervised to the Democratic-dominated Senate, which seems to bring it to a rather quick end.
Impeachment Allegations
By a narrow margin, the longest-serving secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, has been impeached by the House two months ago. The Republicans allege his failure to enforce US border laws and lying to Congress in the times of record-setting illegal crossings, as reported by Reuters.
Partisan Clash
The Senate’s top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, is all set to immediately proceed with the debate and end this case, which Democrats say is an irresponsible and politically motivated abuse of the impeachment process, despite the indignant protests from their Republican opponents.
Owing to these threats, some lawmakers view the work on the debt ceiling as less urgent than addressing the global worries concerning Israel-Gaza’s flare-up, which might lead to a wider regional war and Russia’s consistent advantage in the war against Ukraine.
Denial of Charges
Mayorkas, an ex-prosecutor of the US, denies the charges. Joe Biden is for him, and some Republicans even announced that they cannot find any clue to attack Mayorkas.
While many Republicans accuse Mayorkas of creating a “crisis” that hurts the security of the nation by the unprecedented numbers of migrants who are now entering the southern United States from Mexico, the House has been reluctant to begin the process by sending the impeachment papers to the Senate so that a trial with evidence and witnesses could begin.
Biden’s election opponent, former Republican President Donald Trump, who campaigned on the issue of immigration, then backed down a bipartisan Senate bill that would have strengthened border security last year.
On Friday, he announced a legislative agenda to tally conditions at the border with his longstanding unsubstantiated claim that his electoral defeat to President Biden in 2020 was due to fraud.
“Impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement,” Schumer said in a Monday speech. “That would set a horrible precedent for the Congress.”
The Senate will “address this issue as expeditiously as possible,” Schumer added.
The present situation shows some of the main Senate Republicans upset with Schumer’s expected announcement of dismissal of the case without trial. Therefore, they are creating some obstacles during normal procedures, keeping the chamber at par.
Last Thursday, for a mere seven times in those 35 years, they ensured a long walk to ask an irrelevant vote, after which the Senate intended to recess for a long weekend, as reported by Reuters.
Historical Context
Republican Senator John Cornyn was seen on Monday to tell the Senate that flying caucus talks were alarming.
“Republicans will use every tool available to us to try to force a full trial,” he warned.
Mayorkas is the second member of the presidential Cabinet to be fired due to impeachment. It was in 1876, the last time.