The Democratic-held Senate voted on Wednesday to dismiss both articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.
The House voted to impeach Mayorkas on Feb. 13 over his handling of the crisis at the southern border, and presented the articles to the upper chamber on Tuesday. The Senate quickly killed the impeachment trial across party lines, with the upper chamber voting down the first article 51 to 48 and the second 51 to 49.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted “present” for the first article of impeachment. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Roger Marshall Goes After Mayorkas, Slams Him For Border Crisis Ahead Of Impeachment Trial)
“We’ve set a very unfortunate precedent here,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said after the vote. “This means that the Senate can ignore, in effect, the House’s impeachment. It doesn’t make any difference whether our friends on the other side thought he should of be impeached or not, he was. And by doing what we just did, we have, in effect, ignored the directions of the House, which were to have a trial. No evidence, no procedure — this is a day that’s not a proud day in the history of the Senate.”
#BREAKING: U.S. Senate dismisses Articles of Impeachment against DHS Secretary Mayorkas.
Article I dismissed 51-48-1. Sen. @lisamurkowski (R-AK) voted ‘present.’
Article II dismissed 51-49.
Full video: https://t.co/CfJ5RWNwFj pic.twitter.com/jrWdbxJOoJ
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 17, 2024
The first article of impeachment charged Mayorkas with “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law,” while the second was titled “breach of public trust.”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green first filed an impeachment resolution against Mayorkas on Nov. 9, which she re-upped weeks later.
Mayorkas’ impeachment failed by a two-vote margin on Feb. 6, with Republican Reps. Tom McClintock of California, Ken Buck of Colorado, Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and Blake Moore of Utah opposing the resolution. The resolution eventually passed with a 214-213 vote.
