How a GOP Congress could try to impeach a Biden Cabinet member
by Rafael Bernal - 10/11/22 6:00 AM ET
Republicans have vowed to use the full power of the House of Representatives if they take control in November, threatening everything from shutting down investigations into the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol to impeaching President Biden and his cabinet secretaries.
While Republicans are all but certain to terminate the select committee on the Jan. 6 attack, it’s less clear whether they’ll risk the political uncertainties of an impeachment trial.
But if they take the plunge, their sights will be on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
In a letter to Mayorkas last week, GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) explicitly threatened impeachment over the secretary’s “gross dereliction of duty” in managing the U.S.-Mexico border.
That missive followed an April letter led by the Republican Study Committee and signed by 133 House Republicans that avoided explicitly calling for impeachment, but laid out the case for Republicans to raise immigration policy differences to the level of impeachable offenses.
“Your actions have willingly endangered American citizens and undermined the rule of law and our nation’s sovereignty. Your failure to secure the border and enforce the laws passed by Congress raises grave questions about your suitability for office,” wrote the lawmakers.
The Constitution allows for impeachment of the president and other “civil officers” for “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
But it’s unclear what is meant by “high crimes and misdemeanors,” and impeachment is understood to be an essentially political act – a Senate would need very little substantial cause to convict an official impeached by the House.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3681830-how-a-gop-congress-could-try-to-impeach-a-biden-cabinet-member/
