(NewsNation) — Early Wednesday morning, the House Homeland Security Committee voted along party lines to move the impeachment effort against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas forward.
House Republicans have accused Mayorkas of breaching public trust and refusing to enforce immigration laws.
The impeachment articles charge that Mayorkas “refused to comply with Federal immigration laws” amid a record surge of migrants and that he has “breached the public trust” in his claims to Congress that the U.S.-Mexico border is secure.
The committee Republicans voted in favor, while the Democrats unified against, 18-15.
Now, the focus shifts to swaying undecided lawmakers as the House could take a full vote by next week to make Mayorkas the first presidential cabinet member in almost 150 years to be impeached.
Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., has previously said he believes he has the votes to do so.
“We cannot allow this man to remain in office any longer,” Green said.
During a long hearing on Tuesday, the House GOP detailed issues — like crime and drug trafficking — tied to the border crisis, blaming the consequences on the Homeland Security secretary.
“He’s failed miserably in his job. He’s put America at risk. His vehicle for that was violating the law and a breach of public trust. No this is not a sham,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., said.
Democrats fought back, accusing Republicans of playing political games and using an impeachment effort to settle policy differences.
“It’s an unconstitutional precedent. The Constitution is very clear that you cannot impeach someone because you think they’re doing a bad job,” Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said. “If that becomes the precedent, then the floodgates will open and we will have frivolous impeachments until now and the end of time, which is not good for our country and not what people want.”
Mayorkas described the accusations against him by Republicans as baseless and inaccurate.
If the impeachment effort advances from the House, it would then move on to the Senate. However, a conviction remains highly unlikely with Democrats in control there.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
