The House Homeland Security Committee will mark up a resolution to impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Jan. 31, according to sources familiar with the plans.
The panel will hold its second — and what’s expected to be its final — hearing today as Republicans try to make the case that Mayorkas should be impeached. The hearing comes as Republicans on the panel have been clashing with Mayorkas over whether he’ll testify during the proceedings.
“We will be reinforcing the fact that every American is at risk because of what’s happening at the southern border,” Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) told us about the hearing today. “This could happen to anyone. It’s happened to these people. It could happen to you.”
The witnesses today include Cochise County (Ariz.) Sheriff Mark Dannels and Deborah Pearlstein, a professor at Princeton University.
Tammy Nobles and Josephine Dunn, two private citizens, will also tell their stories of how the border crisis has impacted them and their families. Nobles and Dannels have both previously testified before Congress.
Of course, impeaching Mayorkas has been a top priority for House conservatives who have blamed the secretary for promoting a porous border that’s led to a mass migrant crisis.
Hardliners’ insistence on trying to boot Mayorkas from office is part of the reason the impeachment proceedings have moved so quickly, after Green spent a year investigating Mayorkas’ “dereliction of duty.”
Dems’ response: Democrats and DHS have repeatedly criticized Green’s efforts as a political stunt to appease the far right.
“This is about adhering to a timeline for impeachment agreed to in a back room deal between the Republican leadership, which is holding on by a thread, and its most extreme MAGA members,” ranking member Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) told us in a statement.
Mia Ehrenberg, a DHS spokesperson, defended Mayorkas, saying the secretary is “working relentlessly” to fix the issues at the southern border.
House Republican leaders could hold an impeachment vote on the floor as soon as February. With such slim margins right now, Speaker Mike Johnson would need nearly every Republican to vote in favor.
We’ll be following the hearing today. Stay tuned for updates in our Midday edition.
— Mica Soellner
