'Growing number of conservatives' are speaking out against GOP’s 'vague' impeachment push

31 January 2024

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have been pursuing articles of impeachment against not only President Joe Biden, but also, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Republican proponents of impeaching Mayorkas are arguing that his response to the U.S./Mexico border crisis merits his removal, while House Democrats have slammed the push to impeach Mayorkas as empty political theatrics. An article by The New Republic's Matt Ford, published on January 31, slams the impeachment as a sham designed to please former President Donald Trump.

But some of the opponents of impeaching Mayorkas are Republicans or conservatives.

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In an article published by The Hill on January 31, journalist Rebecca Beitsch reports that a "growing number of conservative voices are encouraging House Republicans to drop their campaign to impeach" the Homeland Security Department secretary.

"Articles of impeachment for Mayorkas accuse him of violating immigration laws that require the detention of all migrants — something no administration has ever done — as well as a 'breach of public trust,'" Beitsch explains. "But notable conservatives have said those arguments fall far short of the high crimes and misdemeanors standard set out in the Constitution."

Republican Michael Chertoff, who headed the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under former President George W. Bush during the 2000s, believes that House Republicans have "failed to put forth evidence that meets the bar" for impeaching Mayorkas.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on January 28, Chertoff wrote, "I don’t agree with every policy decision the Biden Administration has made. There are aspects of immigration strategy that are worthy of debate. But House Republicans are ducking difficult policy work and hard-fought compromise. Impeachment is a diversion from fixing our broken immigration laws and giving DHS the resources needed to secure the border."

The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board, on January 30, was highly critical of Mayorkas' handling of the U.S./Mexico border crisis but said it was "doubtful" that his "failures of policy" were "impeachable offenses." The Journal also argued that impeaching Mayorkas "accomplishes nothing beyond political symbolism" and that any articles of impeachment that pass in the House will be "buried by the Democrat-led Senate."

Two attorneys who have often been featured as legal analysts on right-wing Fox News, Alan Dershowitz and Jonathan Turley, have also been critical of efforts to impeach Mayorkas.

Dershowitz, in an op-ed published by The Hill on January 30, attacking the charges as "vague." And Turley said there is no "cognizable basis" for impeaching Mayorkas.

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