Mayorkas impeachment should be dismissed, US Senate Majority Leader Schumer says

(1700 GMT) Wednesday, senators are scheduled to be sworn in as jurors for a Mayorkas trial. Instead, Schumer called for senators to dismiss the trial, calling it the "least legitimate, least substantive and most politicized impeachment trial ever in the history of the United States." Critics of the impeachment have said the charges against Mayorkas laid out by House Republicans amount to policy differences between Republicans and Democrats on border security and immigration, not illegal actions. "This is an illegitimate and profane abuse of the U.S. Constitution," Schumer said.

The impeachment of President Joe Biden's top border official put forward by the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives should be dismissed, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday. The House on Tuesday delivered two articles of impeachment charging Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas with failing to enforce U.S. border laws and lying to Congress amid high levels of illegal immigration.

Mayorkas denies wrongdoing and Democrats have dismissed the matter as a politicized misuse of the impeachment process. At 1 p.m. (1700 GMT) Wednesday, senators are scheduled to be sworn in as jurors for a Mayorkas trial.

Instead, Schumer called for senators to dismiss the trial, calling it the "least legitimate, least substantive and most politicized impeachment trial ever in the history of the United States." Critics of the impeachment have said the charges against Mayorkas laid out by House Republicans amount to policy differences between Republicans and Democrats on border security and immigration, not illegal actions.

"This is an illegitimate and profane abuse of the U.S. Constitution," Schumer said. "The (Constitution's) framers were clear that impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, called for a "thorough consideration" of the charges against Mayorkas. Disposing of the case without a trial, McConnell added in a Senate speech, "would mean running away both from our fundamental responsibility and from the glaring truth of the record-breaking crisis at our southern border."

Republicans have prepared an assault on any move to dismiss the charges without a trial. Even with a trial, it is unlikely there are anywhere near enough votes to convict Mayorkas, which would strip him of his job. "What Senator Schumer is going to do is fatuous, it is fraudulent and it is an insult to the Senate and a disservice to every American citizen," Republican Senator John Kennedy told reporters on Tuesday.

In an attempt to at least delay a vote on dismissing or simply setting aside the impeachment charges, Republicans were expected to resort to a series of procedural moves that would take time for senators to work their way through. Schumer said he would try to reach an agreement with Senate Republicans on how much time would be allotted for debate, allowing them to offer trial resolutions and points of order before moving to let Democrats use their 51-49 majority in the chamber to dismiss the trial.

The partisan bickering over impeachment is against the backdrop of Biden's 2024 reelection campaign against Donald Trump, with immigration one of the central worries on voters' minds. Earlier this year, a bipartisan immigration reform bill was floated in the Senate, only to be immediately shot down by Trump. That led to a collapse of support among Republicans for the legislation.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)