Senate GOP leaders press for Mayorkas impeachment trial

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Whip John Thune on Tuesday called for a full Senate trial of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Earlier this month the GOP-led House impeached Mayorkas on its second try in a narrow 214-213 vote. The upper chamber has yet to schedule the trial and conservative lawmakers have suggested that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer intends to table the impeachment articles and effectively ignore them, according to The Hill.

"The House of Representatives has determined that Secretary Mayorkas has committed impeachable offenses. That issue will come before the United States Senate. I believe the Senate needs to hold a trial," Thune said of the matter. "I’m going to make the argument — and I’m sure the Democrats will try to dismiss it — that we ought to be having a trial, conducting a trial of the United States Senate to determine whether these are impeachable offenses."

McConnell, for his part, concurred with Thune, saying, "I think that would be the best way forward," with respect to a trial.

Mayorkas has attracted scrutiny from conservatives over his handling of border security amid an unprecedented surge in illegal crossings under the Biden administration.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.