Republicans grill Mayorkas in heated confrontation post-Senate impeachment dismissal

Republicans took off the gloves in their first face-to-face meeting with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas since Senate Democrats dismissed the articles of impeachment against the Biden administration official a day earlier.

Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee pressed Mayorkas on Thursday, hounding him over his handling of the southern border crisis during a hearing on the department’s fiscal 2025 budget request.

“Do you ever, when you go to bed at night, do you have any regrets? Do you have any remorse for your complicity in these crimes you have as your open border policies aided and abetted the murder of Americans?” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) asked Mayorkas. “People lost their loved ones because of this catastrophe, this open border policy. Do you have any remorse? Do you have any regrets?”

Mayorkas said he empathized with the victim’s families but that “the criminals who committed those crimes are responsible for their criminal conduct.”

“They wouldn’t have been let into this country had you not allowed them in through your open border,” Johnson continued. “You blew it all up. And that’s the result. That’s the result! That’s the catastrophe! And you’ve been denying before this committee repeatedly that this isn’t even a crisis — not your problem, Senator, it’s a challenge. This is a catastrophe, Mister. And I cannot believe you have no remorse.”

Republicans berated and rebuked Mayorkas less than 24 hours after Senate Democrats voted the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas were unconstitutional, effectively dismissing the trial before it could get started.

“I don’t see this as a happy day or a day that I take relish or pleasure in, but it’s a sad day — a sad day in the sense that it’s come to this. This isn’t a debate over policy. This was a debate over malfeasance — a debate over whether you’ve been telling the truth and whether you’ve been enforcing the law,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), the top Republican on the committee.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) asked Mayorkas about the Biden administration’s detention of illegal immigrants arrested at the border and instructed Mayorkas to look back at the impeachment articles for additional information.

“I would refer you to the articles of impeachment, which I presume you’ve had the chance to read. Is that right?” Romney asked.

“Actually, I have not read the articles of impeachment,” Mayorkas said.

“I probably would want to do that because it alleges that you haven’t, that you did not follow the law,” Romney said, visibly stunned by Mayorkas’s admission. “Either you or your legal counsel ought to read that and make sure that you are following the law of the United States of America.”

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) shared examples of Missouri residents who were stabbed or killed by illegal immigrants, including the death of 12-year-old Travis Wolfe.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“Mr. Secretary, I know that you think your policies are a success. You’ve sat right there in that chair and told us over and over, ‘Our policies are working.’ You’re on the record years and years saying that,” Hawley said.

“Maybe they’re working for you. But they’re not working for Laken Riley or Travis Wolfe or the people of my state,” Hawley said. “They are, in fact, a travesty. What you have done is a travesty. And sir, it is long past time for you to go.”