Senate GOP: Dems Will ‘Regret’ Skipping Mayorkas Trial

(Andrew Harnik/Getty)

Senate Democrats on Wednesday quickly voted to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, prompting outrage among Republicans who predicted that the party “will pay a heavy price” for the decision The Washington Examiner reported.

Democrats said charges Mayorkas “willfully” refused to follow federal immigration law and misled members of Congress did not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors that impeachment requires as specified by the Constitution.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said the “risk of normalizing what the House did” in charging Mayorkas “is bigger than the risk of establishing a new precedent in the Senate” by dismissing the charges against Mayorkas.

Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the third-ranking Republican in the Senate, said Americans were “outraged that Democrats are welcoming this invasion. Every Democrat will pay a heavy price in November for willfully refusing to end this border crisis.”

Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, suggested Democrats would “come to regret what happened today,” likening the situation to former Democrat leader Harry Reid’s decision to eliminate the judicial filibuster in the Senate, which Republicans later used to appoint conservative judges once taking control of the Senate.

Tate Mitchell, National Republican Senatorial Committee spokesman, said 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.”