House Impeaches DHS Secretary Mayorkas: What's Next?

They say that accountability has finally arrived, but this is just step one.

By now, you've likely caught wind of the news that the US House of Representatives has impeached DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with a vote of 214 to 213.

Last November, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas, citing violations of federal immigration laws, breaches of public trust, and violations of the oath of office.

Follow along as I break this down in my video below:

Under Mayorkas's watch, he has allowed approximately 10 million illegal border crossers to invade our country. The number of encountered inadmissible aliens at the Southwest border or apprehended between ports of entry increased from an average of about 590,000 (fiscal years 2017-2020) to over 2,400,000 in fiscal year 2023.

If you're interested in delving into the specific charges against Secretary Mayorkas, you can find the Articles of Impeachment here.

So what happens next?

Once the House impeaches a federal officer, the action shifts to the Senate for a trial. The impeachment journey involves two steps: the House brings charges (articles of impeachment), and the Senate conducts the trial.

A simple majority vote in the House is required to impeach an officer. The articles of impeachment are then sent to the Senate, where a trial takes place. The Senate acts as the jury, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over the trial. The Senate can choose to conduct a full trial or decide on the case based on a summary of evidence.

The United States Constitution grants the Senate the authority to try impeachment cases. However, it provides limited guidance on the specific procedures for the trial. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution states that the Senate shall have the "sole Power to try all Impeachments," but it leaves the details of the trial process to the discretion of the Senate. Read more here.

A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate is required to convict and remove the impeached official from office. If the Senate votes to convict, the official is immediately removed from office. Additionally, the Senate can choose to disqualify the individual from holding any future federal office.

Impeachment is a political process, not a criminal one.

The charges brought in impeachment proceedings are "high crimes and misdemeanors," a term defined in the Constitution, and they may not necessarily align with criminal statutes. The process is intended to address abuses of power or other serious misconduct by public officials.

But what if the official resigns before or during the trial?

The Senate can proceed with the trial, and even if the official resigns, they may still face consequences, such as disqualification from holding future federal office.

Now, the big question: Will this impeachment be successful, and will the replacement be any better?

While the charges against Mayorkas are solid and supported by substantial evidence, the success of a conviction remains uncertain, but pretty unlikely considering we currently have a Democrat-controlled Senate.

And what about a potential replacement? Kristie Canegallo, a potential successor, boasts a lengthy background in politics and government. However, a rather curious career shift unfolded during the Trump presidency. She made a departure from her decade in government service and assumed the role of Google’s Vice President of Trust & Safety from 2018 to 2021. In this position, she purportedly led the global team responsible for developing and enforcing Google’s product policies, supposedly aimed at ensuring user “safety.” And wouldn’t you know it? She switched back to a role with the government after her stint in the private sector to help lead Biden’s Department of Homeland Security.

Whether this impeachment will go anywhere is highly unlikely. Many have concluded that it is nothing more than political theater and I tend to agree with them. Nonetheless, it is a mar on the record of Mayorkas, and I for one would like to see justice be served.

Let me know your thoughts in comment below, and thank you for being a reader of this substack. ~ Peggy