Senate votes to dismiss impeachment charges against Mayorkas
The Senate voted Wednesday to dismiss two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
The impeachment trial came to a close a little more than three hours after it started, following a GOP senator’s move to quickly quash an offer for limited debate and the creation of an impeachment committee
A spokesperson for Mayorkas released a statement highlighting the dismissal of the charges as further indication that
Senators, voting 51 to 48 along party lines, found the first article charging Mayorkas with “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” to be unconstitutional.
Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) retorted that Democrats were obligated to set a precedent that impeachment “never be used to settle policy disagreements.”
Shortly after opening the trial, Schumer offered Republicans a period of debate time and the opportunity to form a committee on the matter
Schumer swiftly responded with a point of order to declare the first article unconstitutional, prompting the first of several procedural objections by Republicans that followed.
Republicans attempted to deliver extended remarks on the Senate floor, blaming Mayorkas and Democrats for the record-breaking levels of migration at the southern U.S. border.
Two House impeachment managers, who watched the proceedings from the back row, filed out of the chamber before senators were done tossing out the second impeachment charge