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It took two tries by the House in February to impeach Homeland
Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, finally doing so on a
214-213 vote. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has
made Biden's border security performance a top campaign issue
amid record numbers of immigrants arriving at the southern
border with Mexico.
The House charged Mayorkas with failing to enforce U.S.
immigration laws and making false statements to Congress,
charges he denies.
“To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its
constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of
impeachment to the Senate next week," instead of the previous
plan to send them on Wednesday, said Taylor Haulsee, a
spokesperson for House Speaker Mike Johnson, in a statement.
Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer told reporters: "We’re ready
to go whenever they (Republicans) are. We are sticking with our
plan. We’re going to move this as expeditiously as possible."
Several senators and aides have said they expected Schumer to
engineer a quick dismissal or similar procedural maneuver.
Republican Senator Ted Cruz told reporters that a speedy
dismissal would mean that "Schumer is deciding that the Senate
no longer has to try impeachments but instead can hide behind
procedural games."
In 2021, Cruz and 44 other Senate Republicans worked to allow
votes on dismissing Trump's second impeachment.
The Mayorkas impeachment comes as a House attempt to impeach
Biden was faltering for a lack of evidence. Many Democrats see
that probe as retribution for Trump's two impeachments by the
then-Democratic controlled House. Both times the Senate failed
to convict Trump.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan, David Morgan and Gabriella Borter;
Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Stephen Coates)
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