Accused Republican elected officials in the American House of Representatives, Tuesday, February 13, accused Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden’s minister in charge of immigration, of creating a migration crisis at the border between the United States, with the aim of firing him. and Mexico.
This is the first time in nearly one and a half hundred years that the chamber has taken such a sanction against a minister. Alejandro Mayorkas, 64, narrowly escaped the charge a week ago.
“He is the chief architect of disaster”, accused Republican Mike Johnson, the leader of the House of Representatives, before the vote that passed by one vote (214 to 213). Joe Biden immediately denounced the accusation. “History will not remember House Republicans kindly for their blatant act of unconstitutional politicking that targeted an honorable public servant.”The US President wrote in a press release from the White House.
“Political Maneuver”
Given the Democratic majority in the Senate, it is highly unlikely that Alejandro Mayorkas – whose official role is Homeland Security Secretary – will be removed from office after this impeachment proceeding. But the situation remains a headache for Joe Biden less than nine months before the presidential election.
“Instead of organizing charades like this, Republicans who actually care about the border should be asking Congress for more resources and stronger border security. », blasted Joe Biden.
Republicans, many of whom are close to former President Donald Trump, accuse the Democratic president of letting the country down. “to attack”For example the record number of migrants arrested at the border, 302,000 in December.
Democrats have sidelined the process, accusing Republicans of scapegoating the minister in the middle of an election year. Immigration has emerged as a key issue in the campaign for November’s presidential election, which will pit President Joe Biden against his Republican rival, Donald Trump.
A key figure in the matter, Alejandro Mayorkas, has repeatedly rejected the impeachment process of Republicans, accusing them of “Waste of valuable time and taxpayers’ money” in “Political Maneuvering”.
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The last charge against a minister by the Congress was in 1876. The Secretary of War, William Belknap, resigned before the end of the impeachment process, accused of corruption.
For the Senate to put the minister on trial
The Constitution provides that Congress can impeach the president, ministers or federal judges. “Sedition, corruption or other high crimes and misdemeanors”. Alejandro Mayorkas faces two articles of impeachment, accusing the minister of “Deliberately and Systematically” He refused to enforce existing immigration laws and betrayed the public trust by lying to Congress and claiming the border was secure.
The process takes place in two stages. First, the House of Representatives voted Tuesday, by a simple majority, on articles of impeachment detailing the facts with which the minister is accused: this is “impeachment” in English. On February 2, the Republican general staff thought they had enough votes to win the vote, but were surprised by the surprise arrival in the chamber of a Democratic elected official, Al Green, who was still recovering. Abdominal surgery. An Arizona elected official arrived in a wheelchair, barefoot and in a hospital gown between votes, ultimately tipping the scales in favor of Democrats.
On Tuesday, while three Republican lawmakers indicated before the vote that they would vote in opposition, considering the approval largely disproportionate, it was significantly the return of Republican Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the House of Representatives that made it possible to bow. The scales towards the Grand Old Party. Louisiana’s representative was away from Washington for health reasons, and a storm in the country’s northeast also blocked other Republican delegates during earlier voting.
Since the Republican maneuver has succeeded this time, it is now up to the Senate, the upper house of Congress, to put the minister on trial. At the end of the debate, one hundred senators will vote on each article. A two-thirds majority is required for conviction, in which case dismissal is automatic and without appeal. Otherwise, Alejandro Mayorkas will be acquitted.
