Democratic U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday is expected to make clear his plan to bury without a trial the Republican House of Representatives’ impeachment of President Joe Biden’s top border official.
The House on Tuesday delivered two articles of impeachment charging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with failing to enforce U.S. border laws and lying to Congress amid high levels of illegal immigration.
Mayorkas denies wrongdoing and Democrats have dismissed the matter as a politicized misuse of the impeachment process.
At 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) Wednesday, senators are scheduled to be sworn in as jurors for a Mayorkas trial.
Schumer is expected to short-circuit what he has called an abuse of the Constitution’s impeachment provision over what amounts to policy differences between Republicans and Democrats on border security and immigration, and not illegal actions.
Republicans have prepared an assault on any move to dismiss the charges without a trial. Even with a trial, it is unlikely there are anywhere near enough votes to convict Mayorkas, which would strip him of his job.
