House Republicans will begin impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Under Mayorkas' leadership, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 276,000 migrant encounters in December, the highest monthly total in history.
A GOP source on the House Committee on Homeland Security broke the news to CNN:
In a statement provided to CNN, a committee spokesperson said “the House Committee on Homeland Security has conducted a comprehensive investigation into Secretary Mayorkas' handling of, and role in, the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border” for nearly a year.
“Following the bipartisan vote in the House to refer articles of impeachment against the secretary to our Committee, we will be conducting hearings and taking up those articles in the coming weeks,” the statement said.
The committee spokesperson told CNN the hearing will begin next week. “The Committee will ensure that the public is aware of the scope of Secretary Mayorkas' egregious misconduct and refusal to enforce the law, but also that this process is completed promptly and accountability is achieved swiftly—as the American people have demanded,” the statement said.
The Department of Homeland Security reacted to the news on Wednesday, with spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg saying in a statement, “The House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote.”
“There is no valid basis to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, as senior members of the House majority have attested, and this extreme impeachment push is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities,” added Ehrenberg. “Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe.”
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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