The pressure is mounting on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to either resign or face impeachment, a fact which was clearly evident during a Tuesday hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, as the Daily Mail reports.
During the proceedings, Mayorkas was subjected to intense scrutiny of his performance in the Cabinet-level role, with several members urging his resignation and one pledging to initiate a no-confidence vote in the near future.
Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KY) was particularly searing in his assessment of the manner in which Mayorkas has been carrying out his responsibilities, declaring him “derelict in his duties” and stating his intention of drafting a no-confidence resolution that he would then put forward for a vote.
Making reference to prior discussion among Republican legislators about the secretary's possible impeachment, Marshall stated, “I stand at the ready to receive articles of impeachment from the House and conduct an impeachment trial in this body.”
“But in the meantime,” Marshall added, “I think the Senate must show our colleagues in the House that we've had enough of the failures from the Department of Homeland Security and believe that the secretary is not fit to faithfully carry out the duties of his office.”
Mayorkas, at one point, asked if he could respond to accusations made by the senator and other Republicans on the panel, Marshall shot back, “I want you to answer my questions, not give me lectures.”
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) wasted no time in adding his take on Mayorkas' job performance, highlighting the jarring numbers of border crossings that have taken place during his tenure, placing the number in the vicinity of 4 to 5 million migrants, as the Mail added.
That prompted Mayorkas to claim that he remained “very, very focused on the security of our border,” though Johnson was far from swayed.
“No, you're not. No you're not,” Johnson replied. “I don't want to listen to that,” he continued, before asking the secretary about the volume of sex trafficking of young girls at the southern border.
After Mayorkas asserted that the issue raised by Johnson was indeed among his top priorities, the senator interjected that he was “failing miserably,” adding, “You're not giving me any stats whatsoever in terms of the number of people that are human trafficked, how many young girls are sex trafficked. You don't have a clue. You won't even answer how many dead bodies, which is very well documented, at the border.”
The public scrutiny of Mayorkas continued apace on Wednesday, during a House Homeland Security hearing in which Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) used the story of two victims killed in a car accident caused by a human trafficker fleeing apprehension at the border to underscore his failures.
Pfluger asked Mayorkas to offer an apology to the relatives of Maria Tambunga and Emilia Tambunga, a grandmother and granddaughter duo who died under the aforementioned circumstances, as Fox News noted separately.
“They're sitting right behind you. They came here today because they want answers. They came here today because of the failures of you and your leadership. They came here because they want closer,” Pfluger told Mayorkas.
With articles of impeachment having already been filed – though not yet acted upon – but Reps. Pat Fallon (R-TX) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) and DHS already having contracted with a high-powered law firm for possible future impeachment defense, it could be that Mayorkas already sees the writing on the wall, and his departure – in whatever form – is an outcome he may not be able to avoid much longer.
