(The Center Square) – The U.S. House impeached Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Tuesday night, just over three years after he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
The U.S. Senate voted to confirm his nomination on Feb. 2, 2021, by a vote of 56 to 43. All Democrats, six Republicans and one independent voted to confirm.
Republicans joining with Democrats to confirm his nomination were U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. Independent Phil King of Maine also voted with Democrats.
Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania did not vote. Of the Republicans who didn’t oppose Mayorkas’ confirmation, Portman and Toomey are no longer in office.
Democrats, who hold a slight majority in the U.S. Senate, are expected to vote to acquit Mayorkas.
On Tuesday, Mayorkas became the first sitting cabinet secretary to be impeached in U.S. history after House Republicans narrowly voted to impeach him by a vote of 214-213.
Mayorkas was impeached on two counts: Article 1 states he violated his oath “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and to well and faithfully discharge the duties of his office, has willfully and systemically refused to comply with Federal immigration laws.”
Article 2 states he violated his oath “to well and faithfully discharge the duties” because he “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security of his office.”
He was impeached after the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security held over a dozen hearings and issued multiple reports over the past year, which The Center Square has extensively covered, detailing how Republicans say Mayorkas was derelict in duty. The committee also identified over a dozen parole programs Mayorkas created it says are illegal, a more than tenfold increase in illegal border crossings resulting from his policies, a more than 20-fold increase in cartel enrichment, skyrocketing fentanyl distribution and poisonings.
The committee also pointed to the greatest number of illegal entries in U.S. history, with millions of single military age men illegally entering under his watch; DHS has no idea who or where they are. The greatest number of known or suspected terrorists have also been apprehended under Mayorkas’ watch, with concerns about those who haven’t been caught. Retired FBI counter intelligence officials recently warned Congress that a preventable, but likely, terrorist attack is imminent as a result of his policies.
According to Gov Track’s 2022 Report Card, which provides an overview of voting records and ideology of members of Congress, the Republican senators who voted to confirm Mayorkas appear to have a left-leaning track record.
Alaska’s Murkowski is the second most politically left Republican senator compared to her Republican colleagues; the majority of her bills, 64%, had Democratic cosponsors, according to the analysis.
Sullivan ranked 12th most politically left compared to his Republican colleagues; more than half of the bills and resolutions he introduced had Democratic cosponsors.
Both Alaskan senators are up for reelection in 2026.
Maine’s Collins is ranked as the most politically left Senate Republican according to the analysis. In 1996, she first ran on term limits, later breaking that pledge, and is up for reelection in 2026.
Romney’s record includes introducing the fewest bills, receiving bicameral support on the fewest bills, cosponsoring the fewest bills, having the fewest cosponsors compared to Senate sophomores, and ranking last in Gov Track’s leadership analysis. He is up for reelection this year.
West Virginia’s Capito is ranked the 10th most politically left Republican senator; 54% of the bills she sponsored had Democratic cosponsors, according to the analysis. She is up for reelection in 2026.
Among them, Collins, Romney and Murkowski voted to convict former President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial in 2021. Trump was acquitted of all charges brought by the then Democratic-led House.
Collins was also one of only five Republicans who voted not guilty in the impeachment trial of former President Bill Clinton.
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, MD, R-Tenn., who led the charge to impeach Mayorkas, has urged the Senate “to do the right thing and remove Secretary Mayorkas from office following a thorough trial.”
The Democratic-led Senate is expected to schedule a trial at the end of the month.
