House Republicans are making final preparations to draw up articles of impeachment, albeit not for President Joe Biden -- at least, not yet.
Rather, a leaked internal memo has revealed that the House Homeland Security Committee plans to draft an impeachment resolution against Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas before the end of January, according to The Hill.
When asked about the "inadvertently" leaked document, Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) told the outlet that he wouldn't "corroborate a memo" and said, "I’m not confirming or denying any dates or times."
Per The Hill, the internal memo it obtained that has been circulating among committee Republicans includes a rather swift timeline in terms of additional hearings and testimony in the committee's ongoing impeachment proceedings against Sec. Mayorkas.
The memo reportedly stated at one point, "We have scheduled the markup for impeachment articles at 10:00 AM ET on Wednesday, January 31, 2024."
And, while Chairman Green declined to confirm or deny that date, one of his GOP colleagues on the committee, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), is said to have recently told reporters that he expects articles of impeachment against Mayorkas to be released no later than the end of this month.
The Hill noted that committee Democrats and DHS have cried foul over the sudden rapid move by House Republicans to impeach Sec. Mayorkas after discussing that possibility for months last year, and also complained that the secretary has not yet had an opportunity to testify before the committee and defend his actions and policies.
"This is just the latest example of Committee Republicans’ sham process. It’s abundantly clear that they are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn’t fit into their bad-faith, predetermined, and unconstitutional rush to impeach him," DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said.
"Last week, the Secretary offered to testify publicly before the Committee; in the time since, the Committee failed to respond to DHS to find a mutually agreeable date," the spokesperson added. "Instead, they provided this offer of written testimony to the media before any outreach to the Department. Republicans have yet again demonstrated their preference for playing politics rather than work together to address the serious issues at the border."
Except, the claims that Sec. Mayorkas has tried in good faith to arrange a date to testify before the committee was sharply disputed by Chairman Green, as he said in a statement on Wednesday, "The Committee has given Secretary Mayorkas chance after chance to appear and explain his actions, decisions, and statements to us and to the American people. Over the past several months, he has tacitly rejected those offers, resorting instead to political games and delay."
"We would have liked to include his oral testimony in the official record of these historic proceedings. However, this Committee -- part of a co-equal branch of government -- will not accept indefinite delays," he continued. "Our request for written testimony from Secretary Mayorkas is his last chance to show some semblance of respect for the people’s representatives and our constitutional oversight duties."
"The American people are begging for Congress to act, and we will heed that call. Congressional oversight will continue, with or without Secretary Mayorkas’ cooperation," Green added.
On Thursday, Committee Republicans issued an impeachment statement and said, "After our nearly year-long investigation and subsequent impeachment proceedings, and having exhausted all other options to hold him accountable, it is unmistakably clear to all of us -- and to the American people -- that Congress must exercise its constitutional duty and impeach Secretary Mayorkas."
"The Secretary has consistently willfully and systemically refused to follow the laws passed by Congress, abused his authority, and breached the trust of Congress and the American people on numerous occasions," they added. "The result of his failure to fulfill his oath of office has been a border crisis that is unprecedented in American history -- a crisis that has cost the lives of thousands of Secretary Mayorkas’ fellow Americans."
