WASHINGTON — For the third time in five years, senators will be sworn in as jurors for an impeachment trial. But the chamber is expected to spend far less time on the charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas than it did on the charges against former President Donald Trump — or perhaps no time at all.
The Republican-controlled House impeached Mayorkas by one vote margin on February 13 and recommended that Mayorkas be removed from office over his handling of the US-Mexico border. With two articles of impeachment, the House of Representatives charges that Mayorkas “willfully and systematically” refused to enforce existing immigration laws and betrayed the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure.
Democrats say the charges amount to a policy conflict, not the “high crimes and misdemeanors” enshrined in the Constitution as a bar to impeachment.
The 214-213 vote, a narrowly successful second attempt after the House of Representatives rejected the effort a week earlier, marked the first time a Cabinet secretary had been impeached in nearly 150 years. And while the Senate is now required to consider the charges, Senate leaders have shown little interest in spending much time on the matter. Two-thirds of the Senate would be needed to convict Mayorkas, and not a single Democrat has expressed support for impeachment.
Still, there is a process senators must follow under impeachment rules, and all Democrats would likely have to stick together to dismiss the charges entirely.
A look at the Senate’s next steps and options once Mayorkas’ impeachment moves across the Capitol:
Under impeachment rules, a group of House managers—members who act as prosecutors and are appointed by the speaker—will file the impeachment charge by reading the articles on the Senate floor, usually after performing a ceremonial ceremony with the articles in hand. walked through the Capitol. .
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has not yet said when that will happen, but it could be as early as this week when the Senate returns to session after a two-week recess.
Senators will be sworn in as jurors later, likely the next day. The Senate must then issue a summons to the official being tried, informing him of the charges and requesting a written response. But Mayorkas would not have to appear in the Senate at any time.
After that, the rules generally allow the Senate to decide how to proceed. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has not yet said what he will do, but he is expected to try to dismiss the trial somehow if he has the votes. Democrats control the Senate, 51-49.
If Schumer can win a simple majority, Democrats could dismiss the lawsuit outright or table the two articles, ending the House’s efforts and allowing the Senate to move on to other business.
To get to 51 votes, every Democrat and the three Independents in the House would have to vote in favor of dismissal, or possibly fewer if Republicans join them.
While several Republican senators have questioned the need for a trial, it is unclear whether any of them would go so far as to dismiss the charges outright.
Some Republicans are outspoken against this approach. In a letter last week, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said in a letter to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that Democrats should not be able to “shirk their constitutional duty.”
But McConnell has little control over the process. If Democrats stick together and vote, they can reject the process – only a simple majority is required.
In Trump’s second impeachment, shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., objected that the trial was unconstitutional because Trump had already left office, which was essentially an attempt to to reject it. Most Republicans supported Paul’s objection.
If Democrats fail to dismiss the lawsuit or submit the articles, there is a second option: They could follow the precedent of several impeachment proceedings before federal judges over the past century and hold a vote to to set up a trial committee to investigate the allegations. .
While there are no hard and fast rules for forming a trial committee, the Senate has in the past passed a resolution authorizing party leaders to each recommend six senators and a chairman to head the committee. These committees had the ability to call witnesses and issue final reports to the Senate prior to any trials.
While there is plenty of precedent for this approach, Democrats will likely try to avoid a lawsuit if they can halt the process entirely, especially in a presidential election year when immigration and border security are top issues.
Echoing Trump’s defense during his impeachment proceedings, Schumer has called the House of Representatives’ efforts a “sham.”
“House Republicans failed to provide any evidence that Secretary Mayorkas committed any crime,” Schumer said. “The Republicans in the House of Representatives have not been able to prove that he violated the Constitution. Republicans in the House of Representatives failed to provide any evidence of anything resembling a criminal offense.”
If the Senate were to proceed with a trial, senators would be forced to remain in their seats for perhaps weeks while House impeachment managers and attorneys representing Mayorkas make their case. The Senate may also call witnesses if it decides to do so. Senators also have the opportunity to question the two sides before a final vote on whether to convict them.
While the right flank of the Senate Republican Conference is lobbying for that scenario, senators from both parties have said they don’t think it is the best use of the House’s time. And some Republicans have suggested that the trial in the House of Representatives was not serious enough.
Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said earlier this month that he believes Mayorkas has fallen short, but that “a thoughtful impeachment process takes a lot of time, and a few hearings within a month, or a month and a half, are not enough. it seems like it fits that picture.”
