U.S Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been impeached for allegedly failing to enforce immigration law at the country’s Southern border.
The U.S House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 214-213 to remove Mr. Mayorkas.
According to House Speaker Mike Johnson in a statement, Alejandro Mayorkas deserves to be impeached, and Congress has a constitutional obligation to do so.
Critics say a House impeachment probe into Mayorkas failed to find any evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors,” which is the standard for impeachment, saying the move is purely political.
This is only the second time in nearly 250 years of US history that a Cabinet official has been impeached, the first being Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
After the House last week rejected a deal for tougher border controls that it had demanded, with former President and current candidate Donald Trump saying he did not want to give Biden a “win,” Democrats said Republicans have no real interest in border security, and only want to use it as a campaign issue.
The charges against Mayorkas would typically be sent to the Democrat-controlled Senate for a trial, but both Democratic and Republican senators have shown no interest in the matter.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday described the impeachment as a “sham.”
The Senate has embarked on a two-week recess until Feb. 26.
