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Chairman Green on Mayorkas Impeachment: The Senate “Has a Responsibility to Conduct a Full Trial, Hear the Evidence, and Render a Verdict”

April 16, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, MD (R-TN) released the following statement after the House of Representatives sent articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate. Following the House’s vote to impeach Secretary Mayorkas on Feb. 13, 2024, for high crimes and misdemeanors, the articles now go to the Senate, where Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has the responsibility to ensure the upper chamber conducts a full trial and renders a verdict, as it has done in every previous impeachment, when given the opportunity to do so.

“The evidence is clear—Secretary Mayorkas should be tried by the Senate for high crimes and misdemeanors. Specifically, the House found that he willfully and systemically refused to comply with the laws passed by Congress, and breached the public trust. These are serious charges that I urge my colleagues in the Senate to treat with the gravity and deliberation they deserve. The Senate has a responsibility to conduct a full trial, hear the evidence, and render a verdict. Refusing to do so would mark the first time the Senate has refused to hold an impeachment trial when it had the opportunity to do so. Such unprecedented action would be a tacit approval of Secretary Mayorkas’ assault on our constitutional order, and an affront to the millions of Americans suffering under this sanctioned crisis. I look forward to the trial.”

Read more from Chairman Green:Senate has a responsibility to conduct Mayorkas impeachment trial – and convict him

BACKGROUND: On Feb. 13, 2024, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Secretary Mayorkas for high crimes and misdemeanors—the first impeachment of a sitting Cabinet official in American history. This historic vote followed the House Committee on Homeland Security’s vote to advance the articles of impeachment on Jan. 31, 2024, after a nearly year-long investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders. Throughout the process, Secretary Mayorkas refused to cooperate with requests to appear before the Committee to provide testimony in defense of his refusal to comply with U.S. immigration laws and his breach of the public trust.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson declared of the articles, “I commend the House Homeland Security Committee for conducting a thorough and exhaustive investigation into Secretary Mayorkas’ failed leadership of the department and his role in the ongoing border crisis.” Johnson previously stated on CBS’ “Face the Nation” in January 2024, “Our Homeland Security Committee has done its job. They have a constitutional responsibility, a legal responsibility, to investigate what is happening with the agency that they have oversight for. They’ve done that for a year, very methodically, carefully, in detail. And they’ve documented all that.” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise noted similarly, “The Homeland Security Committee has laid out tremendous evidence for impeachment. They’ve been building a strong case for months now. And the case is overwhelming.” And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said, “Personally, I believe it’s appropriate. It’s been a year-long process, very thoughtful and detailed. You’ve got the head of Homeland Security who is charged legally with securing our southern border, and he’s not only failed to do that, he’s willfully disobeyed existing law…”

Throughout the five-phase investigation that culminated in these impeachment proceedings, the Committee published detailed reports of its findings, totaling nearly 400 pages, which are linked below:

These reports conclusively established that Secretary Mayorkas is chiefly responsible for the chaos and devastation that has unfolded at America’s borders over the past three years. His willful and systemic refusal to comply with the laws passed by Congress has incentivized unprecedented mass illegal immigration. He has breached the public trust by misleading Congress and the American people on numerous occasions about the consequences of his decisions and the operational realities on the border. As a result, the criminal cartels have been empowered, Americans and migrants alike are suffering in record numbers, and cities and states across the country are assuming massive financial costs. 

As part of the investigative process, the Committee conducted 10 full and subcommittee hearings, gathering testimony from more than two dozen witnesses. The Committee, along with the House Oversight Committee, also conducted transcribed interviews of chief and deputy chief patrol agents responsible for the Border Patrol’s nine Southwest border sectors as part of this investigation. These senior agents gave compelling testimony about the many consequences of Secretary Mayorkas’ open borders:

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