The GOP House leader also suggested probes could lead to the impeachment of the homeland security secretary.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign Tuesday or face investigations next year that could lead to his impeachment by a House GOP majority.
McCarthy announced he had directed the Judiciary Committee’s top Republican, Rep. Jim Jordan (Ohio), and the Oversight Committee’s top Republican, Rep. James Comer (Ky.), to immediately launch investigations over “the collapse of our border” and the overall reduction in immigration arrests in the interior of the United States when they chair their respective committees in January.
“Our country may never recover from Secretary Mayorkas’s dereliction of duty,” McCarthy said after he and six other Republicans visited U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel in El Paso.
McCarthy and other Republicans challenged Mayorkas’ assertions, most recently at a congressional hearing last week, that the border is “secure.”
“We can’t find one border agent who agrees with him. So we will investigate,” McCarthy said.
Mayorkas has no plans to resign, Department of Homeland Security officials said Tuesday, noting the agency is managing a record number of apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border, including of people fleeing repressive regimes in Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, who cannot easily be deported.
“Secretary Mayorkas is proud to advance the noble mission of this Department, support its extraordinary workforce, and serve the American people,” spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa said in an email. “Members of Congress can do better than point the finger at someone else; they should come to the table and work on solutions for our broken system and outdated laws, which have not been overhauled in over 40 years.”
The push to investigate Mayorkas began long before Tuesday as House Republicans campaigned to immediately oust him if they regained the majority. Republicans have united around targeting Mayorkas and President Biden for what they say is their collective failure to contain the surge of migrants at the border by undoing restrictive measures put in place by former president Donald Trump. They also say the administration lacks enough personnel to adequately deal with the influx of people and illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, from entering the United States.
While the border has become a uniting issue for House Republicans, the approach to passing substantive immigration reform that could lift the strain on border patrol agents has splintered the ideologically divided conference. GOP members and aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, remain pessimistic that reform can be achieved given how politically toxic the immigration debate has become within their own ranks.
The incredibly tight margins will force Republicans to work with Democrats if they want to see any reforms passed through a Democratic-controlled Senate and signed by Biden. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R), who represents the largest portion of the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, says he has conversations with Democrats weekly, including on immigration reforms, which he says begins with securing the border by ensuring that those who do not qualify for asylum are immediately sent back to their country of origin.
