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The Senate voted along party lines to effectively end the impeachment trial of Alejandro Mayorkas.
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GOP Senator. Lisa Murkowski voted “present” on both votes.
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It caps months of drama that contributed to the resignation of a Republican from the House of Representatives.
And just like that it’s over.
On Wednesday, Senate Democrats voted to declare both articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas unconstitutional, effectively ending the trial.
It quickly ended a months-long lawsuit by House Republicans, originally championed by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.
The Democrats couldn’t convince a single Republican to side with them.
Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted “present” on the first article, claiming “deliberate and systematic refusal to comply with the law,” while voting against the second article, citing “a violation of the public trust.”
Some Republicans, including Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, had long doubted the case against Mayorkas but finally sided with his party on Wednesday — a break from the last two impeachment proceedings he faced.
Senators have not officially voted to dismiss the case. Prefer majority leader in the Senate Chuck Schumer The choice was made to declare each article unconstitutional because neither article alleged an impeachable offense. Democrats agreed with Schumer’s move, which effectively made the articles moot and the trial was over before Republicans in the House of Representatives could make their case.
Schumer proposed effectively ending the trial after Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, rejected a deal that would have given Republicans a few hours to debate the case. Without the consent of all senators, Republicans had little other power to delay the trial, as no public debate is allowed during a no-deal impeachment trial. The only other way the Senate could have held such a debate would be behind closed doors or by temporarily postponing the impeachment trial. Republicans tried unsuccessfully to pursue both options.
“We gave your side an opportunity for a public debate where there should be, and your side objected,” Schumer said on the Senate floor after Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, proposed a private debate. “We’re moving forward.”
After the trial, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was “not a proud day in the history of the Senate.”
Senate Republicans were also unsuccessful in their attempt to pressure vulnerable Democrats to support their push for a longer trial. Senator Jon Tester of Montana, who faces perhaps the toughest re-election race of any senator, voted with his party.
Republicans in the House of Representatives struggled to get the articles of impeachment to the Senate in the first place, but initially failed to impeach Mayorkas in an initial vote in early February.
Shortly thereafter, Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin – once seen as a rising star in his party – announced his resignation shortly after voting against impeachment. His resignation is expected to take effect sometime this week.
The Republican Party was successful on their second attempt, ramming through what is only the second impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in history.
Unable to get a full trial, a handful of Senate Republicans resorted to calling out their colleagues for their historic decision to drop charges against a sitting administration official before even holding a trial.
Democrats have countered that they are not concerned about setting a new impeachment precedent because they view the case against Mayorkas as particularly weak. The White House has repeatedly pointed out that leading conservatives, and even lawmakers in the House of Representatives, have long questioned whether the charges against Mayorkas actually met the constitutional standards of high crimes and misdemeanors.
Republicans have been hammering the White House for months over President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Polls show Americans are largely unanimous in their disdain for Biden’s handling of the U.S. southern border, and they likely hoped a trial would provide a bigger stage for their attacks.
Former President Donald Trump has pushed Republicans to press their case against Mayorkas. But even his involvement couldn’t cover up the differences over what to do with the secretary of homeland security. Greene forced her colleagues to vote on moving forward with Mayorkas’ ouster last November.
In response, eight Republicans joined Democrats in bringing the issue to the House Homeland Security Committee. Greene railed against the eight Republicans, but ultimately ceded ground to Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green from Tennessee.
Read the original article on Business Insider
