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Some lawmakers in Washington, D.C., who pushed for the impeachment of former President Donald Trump sang a different tune as they threw out articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday.
Botharticles of impeachment against President Biden’s Homeland Security secretary were deemed unconstitutional by the Senate on Wednesday in two party-line votes.
The first article alleged Mayorkas engaged in the “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” regarding the southern border in his capacity as DHS secretary, while the second claimed Mayorkas breached public trust.
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed a point of order declaring the first article unconstitutional, to which the majority of senators agreed following several failed motions by Republicans. It was then deemed unconstitutional with a vote of 51-48, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voting present.
INSIDE GOP PLAN TO FORCE AS MANY VOTES ON MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL AS POSSIBLE
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 10. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
The second article was deemed unconstitutional as well, with a party line vote of 51-49. This time Murkowski rejoined the process.
“The decision by the Senate to reject House Republicans’ baseless attacks on Secretary Mayorkas proves definitively that there was no evidence or Constitutional grounds to justify impeachment,” DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
“As he has done throughout more than 20 years of dedicated public service, Secretary Mayorkas will continue working every day to enforce our laws and protect our country. It’s time for Congressional Republicans to support the Department’s vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of commonsense, bipartisan border reforms,” Ehrenberg added.
After the vote, Schumer turned to X to say, “Impeachment should NEVER be used to settle policy disagreements.”
“If the GOP spent a fraction of the effort they spent on this meritless impeachment towards working with Democrats on border reform, we might have passed the bipartisan border bill,” he said. “But Trump told his GOP allies in Congress to kill it. Trump even said: ‘Please, blame it on me.’”
‘CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY’ OF SENATE DEMS QUASHING MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT TRIAL QUESTIONED BY EXPERTS
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks from a podium on Capitol Hill (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Senate Republicans blocked the Biden-backed border bill earlier this year because they said it didn’t address what’s fueling the crisis.
“They put forward this legislation, ask for more authority, more funds, and frankly, more flexibility — and they say if we don’t go for it, Republicans are now responsible for the crisis at the southern border. It’s preposterous,” Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., said back in February.
Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying, “Crooked Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas reversed President Trump’s effective border policies have allowed a border invasion of more than 14 million illegal criminals, murderers, rapists, and even known terrorists into our country. They must be held accountable. In November, President Trump will fire Crooked Joe Biden and Mayorkas and secure the southern border on day one.”
When it came to Trump’s impeachment in 2021, Schumer sang a different tune.
The House impeached Trump for a second time in January 2021 after 10 Republicans abandoned the former president and joined Democrats.
President Donald Trump arrives to speak at the White House, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
RASKIN SAYS TRUMP’S REFUSAL TO TESTIFY AT IMPEACHMENT SUPPORTS ‘HIS GUILT’
Schumer said at the time, “I regret to say for 45 Republican senators to vote for a spurious constitutional objection to the coming impeachment trial was deeply, deeply irresponsible.”
During the Trump impeachment trial, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., broke from Schumer and said he believed the Senate had a responsibility to hold an impeachment trial but that it was an open question of whether the trial was constitutional.
But on the matter of Mayorkas, Murphy called the impeachment “bs.”
“Republicans only see the border as a campaign issue,” Murphy posted on X. “They don’t want to solve the problem. They could have worked with us to pass the bipartisan border security bill. Instead, they wasted time on this bs impeachment, which doesn’t solve the problem – just keeps it in the news.”
Murphy and Schumer did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the impeachment.
40 HOUSE DEMOCRATS JOIN LEGISLATION TO BAR TRUMP FROM PUBLIC OFFICE
SENATE PREPARES FOR MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES WHILE GOP BRACES FOR POSSIBLE DISMISSAL MOTION
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., told Fox News at the time of the Trump impeachment that the process was “plainly unconstitutional.”
Cotton joined several other Senate Republicans in signing a letter last week, lobbying for Schumer to hold a full impeachment trial for Mayorkas.
The Republican lawmakers said in the letter, “The American people deserve to hear the evidence through a Senate trial in the Court of Impeachment.”
Cotton could not be reached for comment on Wednesday regarding the latest ruling in the Senate for Mayorkas and how it differs from Trump’s impeachment process.
Fox News Digital’s Julia Johnson and Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
Story tips and can be sent to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
