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WASHINGTON —The Senate on Wednesday dismissed all impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, ending the House Republican push to remove the Cabinet secretary from office over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border.
The two votes ended the trial before arguments began. Senators voted separately to dismiss the two articles of impeachment, arguing that they were unconstitutional.
The votes were 51-48 and 51-49, both along party lines.
The first article charged Mayorkas with "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law." The second article charged Mayorkas with a "breach of trust" for saying the border was secure. The Senate then adjourned the impeachment trial.
Republicans had argued for a full impeachment trial against Mayorkas.
"For the sake of the Senate's integrity and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, senators should dismiss today's charges," Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said as he opened Wednesday's session.
The House narrowly voted in February to impeach Mayorkas for his handling of the border, arguing in the two articles that he "willfully and systematically" refused to enforce immigration laws. House impeachment managers delivered the charges to the Senate on Tuesday, standing in the well of the Senate and reading them aloud to a captive audience of senators.
The outright dismissal of House Republicans' prosecution of Mayorkas, with no chance to argue the case, was an embarrassing defeat for House Republicans and House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, who made the impeachment a priority. And it is likely to resonate politically for both Republicans and Democrats in a presidential election year when border security has been a top issue.
Republicans argue that President Joe Biden has been weak on the border as arrests for illegal crossings skyrocketed to more than 2 million people during the past two years, though they have fallen from a record of 250,000 in December amid heightened enforcement in Mexico. Democrats say that instead of impeaching Mayorkas, Republicans should have accepted a bipartisan Senate compromise aimed at reducing the number of migrants who come into the U.S. illegally.
Once the senators were sworn in on Wednesday, the chamber turned into the court of impeachment, with Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington presiding. Murray is the president pro tempore of the Senate, or the most senior member of the majority party who sits in for the vice president. Senators approached the front of the Senate in groups of four to sign an oath book that is stored in the National Archives.
Schumer then called for the votes to dismiss the trial after Republicans rejected a proposed agreement for Senate debate time and several votes on GOP objections. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell called for a delay in the proceedings while Republican senators huddled on the floor to discuss how to proceed and called for several votes to delay the final outcome. All the votes were along party lines.
While most Republicans opposed quick dismissal, some hinted they could vote with Democrats.
Mayorkas, who was in New York on Wednesday to launch a campaign for children's online safety, reiterated that he's focused on the work of his department.
"The Senate is going to do what the Senate considers to be appropriate as that proceeds," he said. "I am here in New York City on Wednesday morning fighting online sexual exploitation and abuse. I'm focused on our mission."
The two articles argued that Mayorkas not only refused to enforce existing law but also breached the public trust by lying to Congress and saying the border was secure. The House vote was the first time in nearly 150 years that a Cabinet secretary had been impeached.