GOP hope for Mayorkas impeachment trial dims as Senate Dems look for quick dismissal

As the Senate waits for the House to ship its articles of impeachment towards Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a number of Democrats expressed their expectation to Fox News Digital that they are going to be dismissed shortly, and a full trial won’t play out. 

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., informed Fox News Digital he “of course” thinks his fellow Democratic colleagues will transfer to desk the articles when they’re formally delivered to the Senate and lawmakers are sworn in to be jurors. 

“It’s entirely political,” he mentioned. “They’ve never shown any evidence of any kind of impeachable offense and then impeached him in the House anyway. It’s ridiculous.”

During the House Republicans’ retreat this week, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., revealed, “We’ve not sent it over yet. And the very simple answer for that, and the reason for it, is because we’re in the middle of funding the government in the appropriations process.”

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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies earlier than the House Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 19, 2023. (REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger)

He famous that there’s a small window during which the Senate might be required to course of the articles, and “we didn’t want to interrupt the Senate and their floor time and their deliberation on appropriations, because we’ve risked shutting the government down.”

According to Johnson, they are going to be delivered in “due course.”

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In a slender second try at impeaching Mayorkas final month, the House was profitable. By a vote of 214-213, two articles of impeachment had been authorised towards the DHS secretary. One accused him of getting “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” and the opposite of getting violated “public trust.”

Reps. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Ken Buck, R-Colo.; and Tom McClintock, R-Calif., voted towards the impeachment. 

The first try and go the articles was introduced down by 4 Republican defections, certainly one of which was a procedural transfer by Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, which allowed the decision to be introduced again to the ground. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., mentioned the impeachment articles might be delivered in “due course.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“I expect it will be dismissed” by the Democratic caucus, Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., informed Fox News Digital.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., equally shared that he’s hoping for a “quick dismissal.”

Also urging the Senate to get previous the impeachment articles, Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., mentioned, “Let’s turn the page and move on and deal with the problems and challenges that we face,” calling the impeachment each “nonsense” and “shameful behavior.”

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Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, speaks to reporters exterior the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 6, 2022. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

Democrats are within the majority within the Senate and can in the end determine how the physique strikes ahead as soon as the articles are delivered. And since it might solely require a easy majority to desk the impeachment, the higher chamber might decide to take action. 

Their Republican counterparts signaled an expectation that Democrats will transfer to desk the articles. 

“I assume the Democrats will try and table it,” mentioned Republican Whip John Thune, R-S.D., who added his convention will do “everything we can to get them to conduct a trial.”

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Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., mentioned she has heard “rumors” that Democrats had been fascinated by tabling it. “I don’t expect a full trial to happen at this point,” she mentioned. “But I think it should.”

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., speaks in the course of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee markup of the Surface Transportation Reauthorization Act of 2021 in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 2021. (Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc by way of Getty Images)

For many Democratic senators, it simply is not on their radar. The Senate is notably engaged on a number of points, together with federal nominations; assist to Ukraine and Israel; Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act reform; Federal Aviation Administration re-authorization; and appropriations, with a March 22 deadline arising for the final slate of funding payments. 

“I haven’t given virtually any thought to the political charade around Secretary Mayorkas, so that’s just not been high on my radar screen,” mentioned Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who defined that “serious issues” surrounding China and Ukraine are taking priority. 

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“Who gives a s—?” mentioned Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. He added that the Mayorkas impeachment wouldn’t be the final of the “dumb s—” that House Republicans have performed. 

“Who gives a s—?” Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., mentioned of the Mayorkas impeachment effort. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images)

However, Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Ben Cardin, D-Md., emphasised the significance of their standing as jurors within the matter of the DHS secretary’s impeachment. 

“As an impartial juror on all of the above, I’ve always been the same with any type of impeachment that I’m not going to predetermine or have any bias towards what’s going to happen,” mentioned Cortez Masto. 

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Cardin echoed, “I’ve always taken the position as a juror, I shouldn’t talk about that publicly.” The senator famous, nevertheless, that he has “pretty strong views,” including that reporters might most likely guess them. 

DHS didn’t present touch upon the Senate’s process for the articles of impeachment to Fox News Digital. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is anticipated to face a House impeachment vote. (Getty Images)

Following the House’s vote final month, DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg mentioned in an announcement, “House Republicans will be remembered by history for trampling on the Constitution for political gain rather than working to solve the serious challenges at our border.” 

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“Without a shred of evidence or legitimate Constitutional grounds, and despite bipartisan opposition, House Republicans have falsely smeared a dedicated public servant who has spent more than 20 years enforcing our laws and serving our country,” she continued. 

Despite a number of Senate Republicans criticizing the House’s try and impeach Mayorkas, many Republicans have modified their tune and expressed their curiosity within the Senate holding a full trial.

Fox News Digital’s Liz Elkind contributed to this report.