House Homeland Security Committee sets first Mayorkas impeachment hearing

A House committee has set the date for its first impeachment hearing into Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, escalating its push against the Cabinet official.

The Homeland Security Committee, led by Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., will hold its first impeachment hearing into Mayorkas on Jan. 10, the committee told Fox News Digital.

Green told Fox News Digital that for “almost three years, the American people have demanded an end to the unprecedented crisis at the Southwest border, and they have also rightly called for Congress to hold accountable those responsible.”

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“That’s why the House Committee on Homeland Security led a comprehensive investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of this crisis,” Green said. “Our investigation made clear that this crisis finds its foundation in Secretary Mayorkas’ decision-making and refusal to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and that his failure to fulfill his oath of office demands accountability.”

“The bipartisan House vote in November to refer articles of impeachment to my Committee only served to highlight the importance of our taking up the impeachment process – which is what we will begin doing next Wednesday,” he added.

Punchbowl first reported the date of the Mayorkas impeachment hearing.

DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told Fox News Digital the “House majority is wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote.”

“There is no valid basis to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, as senior members of the House majority have attested, and this extreme impeachment push is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities,” Ehrenberg said.

“Secretary Mayorkas and the Department of Homeland Security will continue working every day to keep Americans safe,” she added.

The hearing – titled “Havoc in the Heartland: How Secretary Mayorkas’ Failed Leadership Has Impacted the States” – will delve into how Midwestern states have been affected by the growing influx of illegal immigrants at the southern border.

If impeached, Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet secretary to receive the black mark since 1876.

Fox News Digital has reached out to House Homeland Security Committee Democrats for comment.

Mayorkas has been in the sights of congressional Republicans as the crisis at the southern border spiraled out of control.

Hundreds of thousands of migrants crossed into the U.S., with Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) sources last month telling Fox News Digital that there were over 276,000 migrant encounters near the end of December.

That number set a new record for crossings in a month.

The previous record was set in September when officials saw 269,735 encounters. The number includes illegal immigrants encountered between ports of entry and migrants entering at ports of entry via the CBP One app.

House Republicans have been seeking impeachment against Mayorkas but have faced an uphill climb in their quest.

In early November, the House GOP moved to impeach Mayorkas, only to have the effort tabled by eight Republicans who joined with Democrats.

The defeat came after Republicans upset conservatives and border hawks earlier in 2023 when they tried and failed to attach H.R. 2 – the House Republicans’ signature border security and asylum overhaul legislation – to a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open. 

Instead, the House ended up passing a “clean” continuing resolution, which in turn led to the ouster of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. In mid-November, the House passed another continuing resolution to avoid a pre-holiday season shutdown. That too did not contain policy riders, including those related to border security.

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed reporting.