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Dallas Morning News: Republicans back Mayorkas impeachment

January 19, 2023

WASHINGTON — A move to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of the border is gathering steam, with nearly half of Texas Republicans in the House now backing the effort. Thirty-two House Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors since Rep. Pat Fallon of Sherman filed the resolution on Jan. 9, including 11 of the 24 other Texans. Fallon expects the number to grow quickly when Congress returns from recess. "Congress passed legislation in 2006, the Secure Fence Act, which requires the Department of Homeland Security secretary to maintain operational control of the southern border," he said by phone. "I don't think any rational person would deem what we've seen unfold over the last 25 months operational control of the border."

Impeachment takes a simple majority in the House, but it's exceedingly rare. Only one Cabinet member has ever faced impeachment, in 1876. That was William Belknap, secretary of war under President Ulysses Grant. One Texas Republican, Rep. Tony Gonzales, is vocally opposed. Given the slim GOP majority, it would take just five defectors to block the move against Mayorkas. Conviction and removal requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. With 49 of 100 seats in GOP hands, that won't happen.

But a predictable outcome is no reason not to try, said freshman Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney, one of Fallon's co-sponsors, "because we are committed to pushing back against the draconian policies of the Biden administration." Three other Dallas-area Republicans have co-sponsored the impeachment resolution: Reps. Beth Van Duyne of Irving, Lance Gooden of Terrell and Jake Ellzey of Midlothian. "There's very obvious dereliction of duty," Gooden said Thursday by phone. "The border is not secure. He's lied about the security. And there's a strong appetite to investigate this administration and hold them accountable. There's certainly an appetite to investigate and impeach Mayorkas."

Gooden went further, contending that since Mayorkas is impeachable for failing to protect the borderand enforce immigration laws, President Joe Biden is, too. "I personally absolutely would, and my constituents would back me," he said. Van Duyne's office did not respond for requests for comment. Ellzey declined. In a terse letter to Mayorkas released Thursday, 11 Texas Republicans, including eight who back impeachment, accused him of "conscious inaction in response to the crisis at the Southern border" amounting to "dereliction of duty" and "complete ineptitude."

The three signers not backing the impeachment resolution so far are Reps. Kay Granger of Fort Worth, Michael Burgess of Pilot Point and Ronny Jackson of Amarillo. The Constitution allows impeachment and removal for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors." The definition of that is left to the House, and in Self's view, the Mayorkas allegations "absolutely" meet the criteria. "Our country is being invaded," he said. "There's no attempt to obey the laws of the United States. He works for the executive branch of the United States government, and they're not executing the laws."

The other Texas Republicans co-sponsoring the impeachment push are Reps. Troy Nehls of Richmond, Brian Babin of Woodville, Pete Sessions of Waco, Dan Crenshaw of Houston, and freshmen Nathaniel Moran of Tyler, Morgan Luttrell of Magnolia, and Monica De La Cruz of McAllen. "His mishandling of the border crisis has led to an undeniable disaster. He lied to Congress, absurdly claiming our border is 'secure.' He threw Border Patrol agents under the bus, lying about 'whipping' migrants," Crenshaw said through an aide. "He has blatantly violated his constitutional oath and duty to secure our nation from hostile threats. It's sheer incompetence at best, or negligence at worst." One of the three proposed articles of impeachment asserts that Mayorkas "knowingly slandered" Border Patrol agents by falsely insinuating that agents on horseback lashed Haitian migrants during a clash near Del Rio.

The other articles accuse him of failing in his legal duty to maintain "operational control" of the border, as shown by 5.5 million illegal crossings during his tenure, and of perjury, for telling Congress the border was, in his view, under operational control. The resolution has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. No hearings are scheduled but a half-dozen committee members are already co-sponsors, including Texans Gooden, Nehls and Moran. "He will look in the camera and tell the American people the southern border is secure. We're not stupid," Nehls said last week on Fox News. "Mayorkas, you've been a failure and you've lied to the American people. You deserve to be impeached."