Republicans must impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

OPINION:

They say that no one is above the law, not even presidents — or Cabinet secretaries.

The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has an opportunity to set an important precedent regarding unlawful and dangerous conduct by members of the president’s Cabinet and whether to hold them accountable through the impeachment process.

In American history, three presidents have been impeached, and one resigned before impeachment. Only one Cabinet member has ever been impeached by the House, and that was in 1876, during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. Then-Secretary of War William W. Belknap resigned.

That brings us to today. Never before have we seen a Cabinet member take office to manage the invasion of our country through the southern border. And never before have so many shameful mainstream media outlets been so indifferent about an undertaking that constitutes such a clear threat to the sovereignty of the United States.

For the past two years, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has refused to enforce immigration laws and regularly lies to Congress, Border Patrol agents and the American people about the ongoing disaster that he’s overseeing at our border. The U.S.-Mexico border is not secure, as Mr. Mayorkas wants you to believe. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.

Every country in the world takes border security seriously — for obvious reasons — except the United States under the disgraceful leadership of Mr. Mayorkas. When Mr. Mayorkas was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris to his powerful post, he swore to defend the United States and the Constitution, but in practice has done the exact opposite. This amounts to a complete dereliction of duty.

Because of Mr. Mayorkas’ lawless policies, illegal immigration has spiraled completely out of control by design. There was a time not so long ago that the alarming images coming in from our southern border would have drawn enormous amounts of press scrutiny and perhaps even forced Mr. Mayorkas’ resignation. But we’re not living in normal times. Instead, the biased corporate media has chosen to turn a blind eye to the crisis, which has helped further the left’s open-border goals.

Mr. Mayorkas and global elites like Democratic megadonor George Soros have a vision: a permanent left-wing majority in the United States fueled by new migrant voters from Latin America. The radical left couldn’t care less that they’re causing a national security emergency and humanitarian crisis in the process. Mr. Mayorkas has paved the way for record illegal border crossings and at least a million alien “gotaways.” The truth is that the United States government currently has no clue how many illegal immigrants are in the country, where they are, or what they’re doing here.

Even worse, 98 people on the terrorist watchlist were caught trying to cross the border in fiscal 2022, which raises the question of how many individuals trying to do us harm got through cleanly. But perhaps the most disastrous outcome of Mr. Mayorkas’ open border agenda is the fentanyl epidemic that is killing so many Americans. Over 2,200 pounds of the deadly drug were recently seized in just one month — which is enough to kill 500 million people. When you consider that we had over 100,000 overdose deaths in 2022 alone, the amount of fentanyl making it into our neighborhoods is completely unacceptable, and the lion’s share of the blame can be laid at the feet of Alejandro Mayorkas.

No one is arguing to rush irresponsibly to the impeachment of Mr. Mayorkas, as then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and then-Rep. Liz Cheney did in the case of former President Donald Trump. Unlike Mrs. Pelosi’s unhinged Democrats, House Republicans should launch an impeachment inquiry, gather facts, lay out their case, and afford Mr. Mayorkas due process under the law. There are more than enough damning facts already in the public domain to warrant Mr. Mayorkas’ impeachment by the House of Representatives. Lying to Congress alone constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor — same as failing to enforce the law and creating an opioid epidemic.

If what Mr. Mayorkas has orchestrated over the past two years isn’t an impeachable offense, then what is? Those responsible for this ongoing invasion must be held accountable. Attempting to fundamentally transform the United States of America into the world’s next failed socialist state by unilaterally opening the border for any and all to enter must not be allowed to stand.

It’s essential for House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan and the GOP majority in the House to make an example of Mr. Mayorkas and make clear that impeachment for a cabinet member is necessary in this case.

• David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United and served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President.