Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the upper chamber received the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas from the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
Congressional Republicans including Sen. Cruz and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) held a press conference following the historic event.
However, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) slim majority of 51 Democrats in the upper chamber dismissed the trial before it ever began, calling it “the least legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial ever in the history of the United States.”
Before the vote in the Senate, Republicans called on Leader Schumer to allow the proceedings to commence.
Sen. Cruz stated “We’ve just witnessed history being made,” regarding the delivery of the articles to the upper chamber.
“Only 22 times in our nation’s history has the House of Representatives presented and delivered articles of impeachment to the Senate. Only twice in our nation’s history has a cabinet member been impeached by the House,” said Sen. Cruz. “The stakes of this impeachment are not some technical violation of the law, but rather an enormous and growing threat to the lives and safety of millions of Americans.”
He continued, “Every year, under Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas, we have seen millions of illegal aliens crossing into this country. Alejandro Mayorkas actively aided and abetted the criminal invasion of this country by criminal drug cartels and illegal aliens. And the consequences have been day after day after day, migrants die. 853 in the last year. The consequences have been day after day after day. Little boys and little girls being brutalized by human traffickers. The consequences have been day after day after day. Hundreds and even thousands of women being sexually assaulted by human traffickers.
“The consequences, which the House managers read out loud in the articles of impeachment, have been enriching the Mexican drug cartels to a level never seen before in history. In 2018, the drug cartels made roughly $500 million from human trafficking. In 2022, they made $13 billion. The single greatest friend the human traffickers ever had has been Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas because, under their open border policies, the drug cartels have seen their revenues rise 2,600%,” said Cruz.
Sen. Rick Scott took more of an emotional approach, asking the audience to ponder the reality of those dead and deeply traumatized by the horrors of human trafficking and illegal immigration.
“Think about your family for a second. Just put a picture in your mind. Your mom or your dad or brother or sister or child or grandchild,” said Sen. Scott. “People just like your family have been raped. They’ve been sold into human trafficking. They’ve been murdered. It’s happened all over the country. There’s cases in Florida, there’s cases all over the country.”
The Florida senator continued, “I don’t know why Biden and Mayorkas and the Democrats are doing what they’re doing. Which is, if you just think about your family for a second, we cherish all those people. Biden, Mayorkas, and the Democrats have said they don’t care and we have an opportunity tomorrow to hear the evidence. That’s all it is.
“If I was Mayorkas, think about what he’s got: he’s been impeached. He has the opportunity now to say he didn’t do anything wrong. He must not want that opportunity because he can’t defend himself … It’s either, he knows he can’t defend himself. Biden knows they can’t defend it. Chuck Schumer knows they can’t defend it. Or it’s just pure politics that they just don’t want you to talk about it and it’d be on television. All of it’s wrong,” said Scott.
Senate Democrats voted down both articles of impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas along party lines, 51-48 (Sen. Murkowski – R-AK voted present) and 51-49, respectively.
