McConnell urges Schumer not to table Mayorkas impeachment: 'Beneath the Senate's dignity'

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday not to hold a vote to table the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after they are received by the Democratic-led Senate. 

House Republicans formally sent the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday afternoon where a trial could take place.

"Never before has the Senate agreed to a motion to table articles of impeachment," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

"It would be beneath the Senate's dignity to shrug off our clear responsibility," he added.

McConnell said he would "strenuously oppose any effort to table the articles of impeachment."

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, said Schumer is "still planning" to table the Mayorkas impeachment articles.

"He’s not contesting the facts alleged. He’s not denying that those facts, if proven, amount to impeachable offenses," Lee wrote on X. "That’s like a court saying 'I don’t feel like dealing with this case.' Unprecedented. Unjustified."

The GOP-led House voted to impeach Mayorkas in mid-February, mostly over his handling of border security as migrant border encounters continue to set records. So far into FY2024, migrant encounters have outpaced the first 6 months of FY2023.

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

House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., called on the Senate to treat the impeachment articles "with the gravity and deliberation they deserve" and hold a formal trial.

"The Senate has a responsibility to conduct a full trial, hear the evidence, and render a verdict. Refusing to do so would mark the first time the Senate has refused to hold an impeachment trial when it had the opportunity to do so," Green said in a statement on Tuesday. "Such unprecedented action would be a tacit approval of Secretary Mayorkas’ assault on our constitutional order, and an affront to the millions of Americans suffering under this sanctioned crisis. I look forward to the trial."

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., also said a full trial must be held.

"He is the worst cabinet secretary that has ever served in the history of the United States. There has to be accountability," he said on Tuesday.