Republicans warned that vulnerable Senate Democrats would be punished in the upcoming November general election for their votes to kill the impeachment trial of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Every Democrat will pay a heavy price in November for willfully refusing to end this border crisis,” said Republican conference Chairman John Barrasso, R-Wyo., in a statement following the impeachment trial proceedings.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., proposed points of order after senators were sworn in as jurors to deem both of the House-passed articles of impeachment unconstitutional. Votes on the points of order were along party lines, with all Democrats agreeing that both articles were in fact unconstitutional.
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This included all five of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Jon Tester, D-Mont., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Bob Casey, D-Penn., and Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.
“The American people will hold Senate Democrats accountable for this shameful display,” warned House Republican leaders in a joint statement from Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., and Republican conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.
“History will not be forgiving of Democrats’ decision to table this hearing,” echoed Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., in a statement. “The American people will hold Mayorkas accountable at the ballot box this November.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, additionally slammed his Democratic counterparts for disregarding “their duty to the American people.”
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In his own statement following the decision to vote in line with his party, Tester said, “Montanans want real solutions that secure the border, not partisan games from D.C. politicians.”
He urged “President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to use their remaining executive authorities to help secure our border,” and asked his colleagues in the Senate to revisit the bipartisan border package that was abandoned following former President Trump’s public disapproval.
Tester’s race is considered one of the most competitive races in the country heading into November.
“Senate Democrats just showed voters they will do nothing to hold Joe Biden and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for the disastrous border policies that caused this crisis,” National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman Tate Mitchell said in a statement.
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Republicans further lamented the precedent set by Wednesday’s impeachment trial proceedings. “This means that the Senate can ignore, in effect, the House’s impeachment,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., remarked on the chamber floor following the Senate adjourning.
“This is a day that’s not a proud day in the history of the Senate,” he added.
Throughout the Senate’s history, charges and trials have only ever been dismissed when the impeached individual had resigned or was otherwise no longer in office.
Cornyn noted the precedent set is “unfortunate” and part of the Democrats’ larger effort “to sweep the Biden administration’s failing border policies under the rug.”
“In 2020, Dems voted to impeach Trump without even charging a crime. Today they voted that a *felony* CANNOT be an impeachable crime. It’s beyond absurd,” claimed Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., comparing the impeachment trial proceedings to those of Trump during his presidency.
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While Republicans denounced the proceedings that unfolded on the Senate floor, President Biden’s administration rejoiced over the result.
“Today’s 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,” said Mia Ehrenberg, DHS spokesperson, in a statement.
Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for Oversight and Investigations, added in his own statement, “Once and for all, the Senate has rightly voted down this baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional.”
He also noted that Biden and Mayorkas would “continue doing their jobs to keep America safe and pursue actual solutions at the border.”
