On this Tuesday afternoon, those in charge of the House of Representatives delivered to the Senate two articles of impeachment which had been approved against the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
These articles were delivered to the majority leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, who now has custody of the accusation. Schumer urged all senators to be present during the week since tomorrow, Wednesday, they will be sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial against Mayorkas.
Although the articles of impeachment were approved in February, the House had momentarily postponed sending them to the Senate until the appropriations process was completed.
Finally, after the delay, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, ordered those in charge of the impeachment trial to take the articles to the Senate. This comes at a time when the Republican leader is under intense scrutiny within his party for his more recent political decisions.
However, despite the articles being delivered, it is unclear whether or not the impeachment trial will go forward.
According to Fox News, Republicans in the Upper House denounced that their Democratic counterparts want to dismiss the trial against Mayorkas using a motion that would effectively annul the process.
This will depend on how united Democrats are in the Senate, considering that some lawmakers there, such as Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, have said they are not aware of their party's plans to file a motion to dismiss.
However, other Democratic senators, such as Jacky Rosen for Nevada and Sherrod Brown for Ohio, revealed that they want to dismiss the impeachment trial. This is a complex situation for both because they compete in close electoral races ahead of the November elections.
In fact, some Democratic senators find themselves conflicted over of whether to support their party's motion considering that Mayorkas is, today, an unpopular official due to the growing immigration crisis that is affecting not only the border states but also the main cities of the country.
“Several Democratic senators prepping for tough re-election battles in November have been considered the factors that will decide whether the trial moves forward,” reads Fox News. “Sens. Bob Casey, D-Penn., Jon Tester, D-Mont., and Baldwin still haven't revealed their plans. Each vote will be critical, as the Senate is divided narrowly 51 to 49, Democrats to Republicans.”
Meanwhile, Majority Leader Schumer has not yet explained whether Democrats will close ranks to avoid impeachment, although he did suggest they could unite to avoid it.
"We want to address this issue as expeditiously as possible," Schumer said regarding the articles of impeachment against Mayorkas. "As I’ve said repeatedly, impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement."
In any case, this Wednesday will be a fundamental day for Secretary Mayorkas's political future as he faces questions about his work in immigration.
