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A month after the 2022 midterm elections, as House Republicans made clear they intended to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Senate Republicans sent a clear message: Don’t bother.
Fourteen months later, GOP representatives ignored the advice and approved the first-ever impeachment resolution against a sitting cabinet secretary — despite having uncovered literally no evidence of the DHS secretary committing high crimes.
The case then went to the Democratic-led Senate, where both parties agreed that there was simply no chance of the senators removing Mayorkas from office. Indeed, quite a few GOP senators effectively mocked the whole stunt. Oklahoma’s James Lankford called the impeachment resolution “dead on arrival.” North Dakota’s Kevin Cramer echoed the line, adding that he considered the case “the worst, dumbest exercise and use of time.”
With this in mind, Politico reported two weeks ago that Senate Democrats had already begun behind-the-scenes discussions “about the best way to kill this as fast as they can.”
Several Senate Republicans have a very different approach in mind. Axios reported:
A group of Senate conservatives is demanding help from Mitch McConnell on forcing a full impeachment trial for Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Axios has learned. ... 13 Republicans, led by Sens. Mike Lee (Utah) and Ted Cruz (Texas), plan to send a letter to [the Senate minority leader] on Tuesday morning, demanding they “fully engage our Constitutional duty and hold a trial.”
Cruz and Lee have also reportedly met with the Senate parliamentarian about whether Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has the authority to simply set aside the impeachment articles. (The parliamentarian’s office has not yet made a pronouncement on the matter.)
In case there were any lingering doubts about the competing motivations, Cruz and Lee almost certainly realize that 67 votes to remove Mayorkas from office do not, and will not, exist. So why demand an impeachment trial?
Because far-right senators see political value in hosting an election-year spectacle on the Senate floor. As an added bonus, if/when senators are tied up dealing with a doomed impeachment ordeal, they won’t be able to devote time to actual work.
Republican Sen. Rick Scott not only wants a trial, the Floridian is also pushing Vice President Kamala Harris to oversee the stunt, wasting her time, too.
It’s not altogether clear what will happen next, or how seriously McConnell will treat the shallow appeals of his far-right faction. That said, The New York Times reported last week that Schumer is “aiming for quick action, beginning on Feb. 28, the day the House is expected to deliver the charges, that could be over in just a couple of days.”
While GOP lawmakers didn’t need something else to argue amongst themselves about, they’ve apparently found a new point of contention anyway.