Senators to Be Sworn-In for Mayorkas Impeachment Trial but It Could Be Quickly Dismissed

One hundred members of the U.S. Senate will assemble at 1 pm Wednesday to be sworn in as jurors for the impeachment trial of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, but that’s about as far as they will go if Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) quashes the proceedings.

Senate rules require the 1 pm starting time and the swearing-in, but then Mr. Schumer is widely expected to introduce a motion either to table or dismiss the two Articles of Impeachment approved by the House of Representatives on Feb. 13 and officially read in the Senate chamber on Tuesday.

Democrats will likely unanimously back the Schumer motion, with all but two of the Senate’s 49 Republicans opposing, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah).

The Senate has 48 Democrats, but they are expected to be supported by three independents who caucus with them: Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Sen. Angus King (I-Maine), and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Mr. Schumer has not actually said what he will do Wednesday, but he has made clear his disdain for the Mayorkas impeachment, variously describing it in recent weeks as a “sham,” an awful precedent for Congress,“ and a ”policy disagreement.”

Senate Republicans argue that Mr. Schumer and his Democratic colleagues, including especially senators Jon Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, who face tough re-election battles, fear the political consequences of a nationally televised impeachment trial that reinforces already huge public fears about the mass surge of more than 8 million illegal immigrants under President Joe Biden and Mr. Mayorkas.

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Mr. Tester was seen on the Senate floor as the reading by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) of the impeachment articles began, but he left at that point and did not return to the Senate floor until the document was completed.

17 Senate Impeachment Trials

There have been 17 Senate impeachment trials since the first Congress in 1789, with eight resulting in convictions, while nine ended without convictions. A two-thirds majority of the Senate is required to convict an impeached officer of the federal government.

Neither former President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton in 1998, nor President Andrew Johnson in 1868 were convicted. Mr. Mayorkas is only the second presidential cabinet appointee to be impeached by the House.

The first, Secretary of War George Belknap, resigned in 1876 after the House passed five counts of impeachment against him. The Senate failed to convict Belknap, who was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant.

Senate Republicans have also been pushing Mr. Schumer for a week not to block the trial. In a news conference Tuesday shortly after the 11 House impeachment managers appeared in the Senate for the reading of the two impeachment counts, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) pointed to the seriousness of the impeachment issue.

“The stakes of this impeachment are not some technical violation of a law, but rather an enormous and growing threat to the lives and safety of millions of Americans. Every year under Joe Biden and Mayorkas, we have seen millions of illegal aliens crossing into this country,” Mr. Cruz said.

“Mr. Mayorkas actively aided and abetted the criminal invasion of this country by criminal drug cartels and illegal aliens. The consequences have been day after day after day migrants dying, 853 in the last year. The consequences have been day after day after day, little boys and girls being brutalized by human traffickers.

“The consequences have been day after day after day, hundreds and even thousands of women being sexually assaulted by human traffickers. The consequences, which the House managers read out loud in the Articles of Impeachment, have been enriching the Mexican drug cartels to a level never before seen in history.”

The Texas Republican said in 2018, the cartels made about $500 million in drug and trafficking profits, but in 2022, the second year of Joe Biden’s presidency and Mr. Mayorkas’ tenure at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the cartels’ profits exceeded $22 billion.

“The single greatest friend the human traffickers have ever had has been Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas because, under their open-border policies, the drug cartels have seen their revenues rise 2,600 percent,” Mr. Cruz claimed.

Mr. Cruz is expected to be joined by GOP senators Mike Lee of Utah, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, and Rick Scott of Florida in offering points of order against Mr. Schumer’s motion.

If any one of the GOP points of order is approved by a simple majority of the Senate, the motion will be defeated, and the trial will commence.

But whoever is in the Senate chair at the time is not obligated under Senate rules to recognize any of the senators offering points of order, so none of the GOP objections may be heard on the Senate floor.

Should the Senate trial go forward, the House managers will present their evidence, and defenders of Mr. Mayorkas from among the Senate Democratic majority will respond. At some point thereafter, a roll-call vote will be taken, which is expected to fail to reach the required two-thirds for conviction.

The House managers, all Republicans, include Mr. Green, House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Reps. Mike McCaul of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Ben Cline of Virginia, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Andrew Garbarino of New York, August Pfluger of Texas, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Laurel Lee of Florida.

If Mr. Schumer does allow the trial to proceed, Mr. Mayorkas will have a defense team present to counter the evidence presented by the House managers.