The Senate on Wednesday ended the impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, making him the second Cabinet official in history to evade a conviction and removal from office — but the first to be acquitted without evidence being presented of alleged “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) convened the upper chamber in the early afternoon to swear in the 51 Democrats or independents who caucus with them and 49 Republicans as jurors, before offering a motion to dismiss the first of the charges without a trial. The unprecedented move set off a series of objections from Republicans, with Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) proposing a motion to adjourn the proceedings until April 30 and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) rising to oppose Schumer’s point of order that the first impeachment article was “unconstitutional.”

“At this point, in any trial in the country, the prosecution presents the case, the defense does the same and the jury listens,” McConnell said. “But the Senate has not had the opportunity to perform this duty.” GOP senators brought other objections on the second article, pushing for a closed session, asking to adjourn until after the 2024 election and questioning whether they were setting a precedent of absolving federal officials of potential felonies without a trial. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) also offered a direct challenge to Schumer’s procedural attempt to kill the trial. Each Republican objection fell, with all 51 Democrats voting against them. Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted present on the question of dismissing the first article and against dismissing the second, whereas all other members voted on the party line — letting both fall, 51-49.

The House voted 214-213 in February to impeach Mayorkas, 64, for his “willful and systemic refusal to comply” with federal immigration law and lying to Congress about the Biden administration maintaining a “secure” border.

Record-breaking numbers of migrants have crossed illegally into the US every year that Biden has been in office, with a total of more than 9 million encountered at land borders, according to US Customs and Border Protection statistics. More than 7.5 million migrants have been caught along the southern border, and another 1.8 million have evaded apprehension but nevertheless been observed making the illegal entries. The massive influx has led to a backlog of more than 3 million cases of asylum seekers in the US, the House impeachment resolution noted.

The impeachment articles also alleged that Mayorkas failed to enforce the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and misled Congress about the Department of Homeland Security having “operational control” of the border. In a Sept. 30, 2021, memo, the secretary had also changed policies for detaining and expelling migrants, allowing his department to institute a de facto “catch and release” policy for millions of illegal border crossers, the resolution states.

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