Mayorkas Responds to Calls for His Impeachment Following Title 42 Expiration

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas largely ignored Republican calls for his impeachment when asked on Sunday, saying that he is “focused on the work” in front of him.

Some Republicans have called for his impeachment since 2021. Earlier this year, members of Congress, such as Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Z) and Cory Mills (R-FL), re-upped those calls and got behind legislation to impeach Mayorkas, citing the crisis at the United States-Mexico border. The calls for Mayorkas’s removal have only intensified amid the recent border concerns, with dozens of Republicans backing impeachment.

“This, to me, is the greatest malfeasance, and malfeasance is — it’s not a failure to act — it’s an intentional failure to act. He should be impeached,” House Republican Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) told Breitbart Friday.

When pressed about his reaction to the GOP efforts, Mayorkas stressed that he is concentrated on addressing the current situation at the border and other national security issues.

“I am focused on the work in front of us. Meeting the challenge, not only with respect to the Southern border but meeting the challenge of the cyber threat from cyber criminals and adverse foreign nation-states. I am focused on the increasing severity of extreme weather events,” Mayorkas said on CNN’s State of the Union.

Republicans have cited a litany of concerns with Mayorkas’s supervision of the border and his public remarks before Congress. DHS reportedly hired a private law firm to help Mayorkas navigate possible impeachment proceedings.

Although early impeachment efforts initially went nowhere, Republican calls to do so appear to have gained some momentum again in recent weeks amid fallout from Title 42’s expiration. Title 42 is a pandemic-era health order that bestowed Border Patrol with the power to rapidly expel migrants without asylum hearings. It expired last Thursday, catalyzing concerns of a surge at the border.

Emmer is the third-ranking House Republican. So far, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has not outright moved to impeach Mayorkas, but he has heavily criticized the Biden administration’s handling of the border situation.

“These are huge, not just national security issues, but humanitarian and health crises. And the fact is that they continue between Secretary Mayorkas and the ‘borders czar,’ our Vice President Kamala Harris, to do nothing, and in fact, do the opposite of nothing by actually weakening our border system,” Mills previously told the Washington Examiner.

Some Republicans have also accused Mayorkas of lying to Congress in the past for suggesting that the border is “closed.” Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) accused Mayorkas of “providing perjurious, false, and misleading testimony to Congress” when he backed impeachment efforts earlier this year.

“Secretary Mayorkas has violated the law and has implemented policies that undermine law enforcement activities at our southern border,” Fallon said in a statement. “His willful actions erode our immigration system, undermine border patrol morale, and imperil American national security. He must be removed from office.”

Some top Republicans have treaded carefully on the subject.

“I’ve been very careful not to say ‘let’s impeach Secretary Mayorkas,’ because I don’t have that authority in my committee, but what I do have is a responsibility for oversight. And we’re going to do that. We’re going to look very closely at the failures of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas,” Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told CNN’s State of the Union.

McCarthy previously demanded Mayorkas resign before Republicans recaptured the lower chamber earlier this year. He warned that if Mayorkas didn’t step aside, the GOP would probe “every order, every action, and every failure and determine whether we can begin impeachment inquiry.”

Multiple Republican lawmakers have told the Washington Examiner they do not believe GOP leadership is receptive to impeaching Mayorkas just yet. In spite of those calls, Mayorkas has contended that he will continue tackling the pressing matters before DHS.

“I will continue to focus on that work throughout my tenure,” Mayorkas added.