Washington, DC — In a timely MSNBC opinion column, “The GOP’s Biden and Mayorkas debacles subvert impeachment at the worst time,” Norman Eisen, former impeachment counsel to the House Judiciary Committee; Fred Wertheimer, founder and president of Democracy 21; and Sasha Matsuki, research assistant at State Democracy Defenders Action, make the case that House Republicans’ push to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas reflects their politically motivated desire for retribution after Donald Trump’s two impeachments “no matter the lack of any constitutional basis,” and argue that, “by continuing to cry wolf when none is at the door, Republicans lower our guard for when impeachment may actually be needed in the (possibly very near) future.”
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“The sham impeachment of DHS Secretary Mayorkas is not about policy or constitutionality, and it’s certainly not about protecting homeland security. Instead, it’s a politically motivated effort that promotes dangerous conspiracies, harms real efforts at governance, and actively stokes a climate of fear, division, and danger. It’s part of the 2024 Republican Party’s preference for blocking solutions and perpetuating chaos and paranoia.
So here we are: Republicans demanded money to address the border in order to fund the defense of democracy in Ukraine and then said, no, we need policy changes. The Republicans then said, not the bipartisan Senate compromise, we will only accept our partisan policy changes. Then House Republicans said we don’t need congressional action after all, because the President has the power to act without us. Then Republicans said only when Trump is President can anything be done, so let’s do nothing. To review: House Leadership is falsely condemning Mayorkas for not enforcing the law while the same leadership is refusing action on any legislation to address fixing the border.”
Read the MSNBC opinion column, “The GOP’s Biden and Mayorkas debacles subvert impeachment at the worst time,” by Norman Eisen, Fred Wertheimer, and Sasha Matsuki in full at the online link and find key excerpts below:
“Both the Biden and Mayorkas impeachments are clearly not backed up by evidence. And both borrow from a House Freedom Caucus playbook of unmerited impeachment proceedings that dates to the failed 2016 impeachment of then-IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. What really concerns us, though, is the way these impeachments will both weaponize a key constitutional remedy and undermine its sober original intent. America needs impeachment to deal with the threat of future rogue presidents or other wayward government officials. Ahead of a potential Trump-Biden rematch, this is the worst possible time to turn the threat of impeachment into a partisan joke.
…Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, and so the focus has shifted (for the time being). The problem is there is also no evidence against Mayorkas of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” required by the Constitution for impeachment. The Constitution’s impeachment standard was not meant to apply to policy differences such as those over immigration and border enforcement. The framers never intended for impeachment to be used as a cudgel to be wielded against political enemies. Mayorkas’ conduct does not provide any basis for impeachment.
…But Jordan’s failed impeachment of Koskinen gave him and his House Freedom Caucus colleagues a taste for pursuing baseless impeachments for political purposes. Now they are returning to the same playbook, trying to make an example of Mayorkas to show just how tough on illegal immigration they can be. As with their anti-IRS pandering, Jordan and his peers cannot resist using impeachment to exploit the hot-button issues of migration and the border.
As Republicans continue to use impeachment as a political weapon, they undermine its constitutional importance and its essential role as a means of checks and balances. By continuing to cry wolf when none is at the door, they lower our guard for when impeachment may actually be needed in the future. Trump’s conduct was so egregious during his first administration that he was impeached two separate times. Who knows what could happen if he returns to the Oval Office in 2025, angry and hellbent on vengeance?”
Resources and Background
- America’s Voice press release and research summary highlighting dangers of GOP use of white nationalist conspiracies in Mayorkas impeachment process
