House Republicans Release Draft Impeachment Articles Against Mayorkas
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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On Jan. 28, the House Committee on Homeland Security released two draft articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
In an amendment to a House resolution to impeach Mayorkas—introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) in November 2023—Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee accused Mayorkas of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” for his handling of the migrant situation along the U.S. Southern border, and “breach of public trust” in connection with his compliance with Congress’s oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
The articles allege that throughout his tenure as secretary, Mayorkas “has repeatedly violated laws enacted by Congress regarding immigration and border security” and has “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight the Department of Homeland Security…principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
In a letter to the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, the committee’s ranking member Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) wrote that the attempt to impeach Mayorkas is a “sham” and “a testament to partisan politics over rules and reason.”
In response to the release of the draft articles, the Department of Homeland Security released a memo refuting the committee’s allegations and dismissing the effort to impeach Mayorkas as “more of the same political games from House Homeland Security Committee… Republicans.” The memo reads, “This farce of an impeachment is a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws.”
You can read the draft articles of impeachment, Rep. Thompson’s letter, and the department’s memo here or below:
Draft Articles of Impeachment
Rep. Thompson’s Letter
Department of Homeland Security Memo
