Biden denounces Mayorkas impeachment effort as 'baseless' and 'unconstitutional'
The president made his most forceful condemnation yet of the House GOP's push to bring to the floor a resolution to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Monday denounced the Republican charge to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as an "unprecedented and unconstitutional" political attack that betrays the real challenge of securing the southern U.S. border, according to a statement of administration policy shared first with NBC News.
The statement was the most forceful condemnation of the Republican-controlled House’s push to bring the Mayorkas impeachment to the floor.
“From his time in the Justice Department as a U.S. Attorney to his service as Deputy Secretary and now Secretary of Homeland Security, he has upheld the rule of law faithfully and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that make our Nation great,” the statement about Mayorkas said. “Impeaching Secretary Mayorkas would be an unprecedented and unconstitutional act of political retribution that would do nothing to solve the challenges our Nation faces in securing the border.”
Republicans argue that impeachment hearings, which the House Homeland Security Committee launched last month, are needed due to record high illegal border crossings and drug trafficking across the southern U.S. border under Mayorkas, whom Biden appointed in 2021. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., tried twice last year to force an impeachment vote against Mayorkas.
In a format usually reserved to announce when the president will veto a particular bill, the administration countered that House Republicans are abusing Congress’ authority to target a Cabinet-level official for reasons beyond the scope of their authority.
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