Senate set to take action on Mayorkas impeachment amid speculation Dems will try to kill trial

The Democratic-led Senate is expected to take action Wednesday on articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that were received a day earlier from the GOP-led House.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell is urging Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer not to make a procedural move – known as a "motion to table" – to block a trial from taking place.

"Never before has the Senate agreed to a motion to table articles of impeachment," McConnell said Tuesday on the Senate floor. "It would be beneath the Senate's dignity to shrug off our clear responsibility."

It is unclear at this point how consideration of the impeachment articles will play out on the Senate floor.

GOP senators are reportedly planning to try forcing a vote to begin a trial amid the speculation that Democrats will attempt to make motions to table both impeachment articles. Schumer has been critical of the effort to impeach Mayorkas, raising the likelihood of a Democrat move to kill a trial.

"Impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement. Talk about awful precedents," Schumer said on Tuesday.

The GOP-led House formally voted in favor of impeaching Mayorkas in February, mostly over his handling of border security as migrant border encounters continue to set records. So far into fiscal 2024, migrant encounters have outpaced those in the first six months of fiscal 2023.

The two impeachment articles allege a "breach of trust" related to Mayorkas describing the southern U.S. border as secure as well as a "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law."