Republicans impeached the homeland security secretary over US-Mexico border crisis, as Democrats take Santos seat in New York
Mark Green, the chairman of the House homeland security committee, has written an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal explaining the decision to impeach Mayorkas. Portions of the op-ed appear designed to rebut criticism that Republicans are impeaching Mayorkas over mere policy disagreements.
Here are some key paragraphs:
Impeachment doesn’t require the commission of indictable crimes. The framers of the Constitution conceived of impeachment as a remedy for much more expansive failures. When officials responsible for executing the law willfully and unilaterally refuse to do so, and instead replace those laws with their own directives, they violate the Constitution by assuming power granted solely to the legislative branch. They undermine the rule of law itself – an offense worthy of impeachment and removal.
The framers gave the House the power of impeachment to preserve the integrity of our constitutional system. As Alexander Hamilton wrote in Federalist No. 65, impeachable offenses are those “which proceed … from the abuse or violation of some public trust.” James Madison added that “the House of Representatives can at any time impeach” an unworthy officeholder, “whether the president chooses or not.”
This sham impeachment effort is another embarrassment for House Republicans. The one and only reason for this impeachment is for Speaker Johnson to further appease Donald Trump.
House Republicans failed to produce any evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has committed any crime.