House Democrats release new report defending Mayorkas against GOP's "sham" impeachment effort

Washington — House Democrats released a report on Monday defending Defense Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas against an impeachment effort they call a "politically motivated sham" aimed at appeasing the far right. 

In their 29-page report, which comes ahead of a House Homeland Security Committee vote on a resolution to impeach the cabinet secretary set for Tuesday, Democrats on the committee argued that the impeachment effort is a "total waste of time," stating that it fails to outline any charge that constitutes treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors — the constitutional basis for impeachment. 

"We don't see the high crimes and misdemeanors standard being met," Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Committee, said in a news conference on Monday. "Democrats are prepared to address the impeachment effort tomorrow with facts. We think history is on our side." 

House Republicans released two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on Sunday, accusing the secretary of "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and a "breach of public trust." But the committee Democrats argue in their report that the impeachment articles fail to provide evidence to support the charges, and they say the effort more broadly has failed to grant due process to Mayorkas and to address "real challenges" at the borders.

"In a process akin to throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks, Committee Republicans have cooked up vague, unprecedented grounds to impeach Secretary Mayorkas," the report reads. "The MAGA-led impeachment of Secretary Mayorkas is a baseless sham, and the few rational Republicans left in Congress know that — even if they refuse to admit it." 

Congressional Republicans have sought to punish the secretary over the administration's handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, repeatedly accusing Mayorkas of failing to enforce the nation's laws facing a surge of migrants. The committee held two hearings on the impeachment effort this month featuring testimony from attorneys general about the impact of migration on their states, as well as mothers who said their children had died in part because of what they see as failures by Mayorkas to manage the southern border. 

Still, Democrats and the Department of Homeland Security have pushed back on the impeachment effort, claiming that it's politically motivated. In a response to the impeachment articles on Sunday, the department said the effort was "a distraction from other vital national security priorities and the work Congress should be doing to actually fix our broken immigration laws."

Nevertheless, House Republicans are moving forward with the impeachment effort, and House Speaker Mike Johnson said last week that the lower chamber will vote on whether to impeach Mayorkas "as soon as possible" after the impeachment articles advance out of committee. 

But even if the Republican-controlled House votes to impeach Mayorkas, it remains unlikely that he would be convicted in a Senate trial, where a two-thirds majority of the Democrat-controlled chamber is needed. Still, Mayorkas' impeachment would mark the first of any cabinet official since 1876.

Nicole Sganga and Caitlin Yilek contributed reporting.

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• United States House of Representatives
• Alejandro Mayorkas

Kaia Hubbard

Kaia Hubbard is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital based in Washington, D.C.