In an unprecedented show of power, the Democrat-led Senate voted to dismiss the two articles of impeachment that the House of Representatives brought against Alejandro Mayorkas, without a trial even happening.
On Wednesday, the vote shut down a potentially lengthy impeachment trial in the Senate against the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Republicans had been demanding that the trial take place so that more public attention could be brought on the Biden administration’s failed policies in regard to border security and immigration in general.
With the dismissal, it marks the first time in 225 years that Congress’ upper chamber immediately dismissed impeachment charges that the House approved, in lieu of either holding a floor trial or referring the case to a special committee for further review.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer argued that a full trial wasn’t necessary because what the House sent to them was “the least legitimate, least substantive and most politicized impeachment trial ever in the history of the United States.”
He further warned:
“The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standards of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.”
Schumer raised two points of order, that members of the Senate sustained,” asserting that the charges brought against Mayorkas didn’t rise “to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor,” which the Constitution requires for impeachment.
Schumer had initially tried to use unanimous consent to dismiss the charges, but Republican Senator Eric Schmitt objected to that. Resolutions put forward by Republican Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah sought either a full trial to be held or a special committee to be appointed to review the case.
Several other motions were put forward to try to delay the bid by Democrats to avoid a full trial. However, all of those efforts by the GOP failed along party-line votes.
The Senate has impeachment rules that limit floor debate if there isn’t a resolution that would set the impeachment trial’s guidelines.
Many people had anticipated that Schumer would seek to go this route to quickly dismiss the impeachment charges, but it was uncertain whether he’d be able to align all 51 Democratic senators behind that effort.
Just last week, Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana said that the charges would need a serious review if they ended up being anything more than a simple political stunt.
Ultimately, he must’ve been convinced that there was nothing substantial in the impeachment articles that the House sent over.
Another person who was a wild card was Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who has been a thorn in Democrats’ side for a few years now.
Following the vote, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell heavily criticized the actions that Democrats took. He said on the Senate floor:
“Under the Constitution and the rules of impeachment, it is the job of this body to consider the articles of impeachment brought before us and to render judgment. The question right now should be how best to ensure that the charges on the table receive thorough consideration.”
