Schumer: House Republicansâ Mayorkas impeachment effort âillegitimate and profane abuse of US constitutionâ â live | US politics
Schumer: Mayorkas impeachment 'illegitimate and profane abuse of constitution'
Itâs looking increasingly likely that Senate Democrats will move to kill the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the coming few hours.
âThis is an illegitimate and profane abuse of the US constitution,â Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer just told colleagues, according to reporting from the Guardianâs Lauren Gambino.
He said he would move to dismiss the two articles of impeachment after a âperiod of debate timeâ.
We reported earlier that Schumer was primed to call for a dismissal vote soon after senators were sworn in as jurors at lunchtime. It would deny Republican House impeachment managers an opportunity to present their case that Mayorkas is guilty of âhigh crimes and misdemeanorsâ for defying US law in pursuing immigration policies.
Some Republicans are already accusing Schumer of a âwhitewashâ and âcover-upâ even before the trial has begun. Democrats, meanwhile, say the impeachment is âan embarrassing political stuntâ.
Key events
In response, Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate minority leader, is not happy that the impeachment trial is about to be tanked.
Heâs accusing Democrats of failing to live up to their obligations to assess the evidence and render a verdict, and taking potshots at Joe Bidenâs border policies:
Today it falls to the Senate to determine whether and to what extent Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas enabled and inflamed this crisis. Under the Constitution and the rules of impeachment, it is the job of this body to consider the articles of impeachment brought before us and to render judgment.
The question right now should be how best to ensure that the charges on the table receive thorough consideration. But instead, the more pressing question is whether our Democratic colleagues intend to let the Senate work its will, at all.
Tabling articles of impeachment would be unprecedented in the history of the Senate. Tabling would mean declining to discharge our duties as jurors.
It would mean running both from our fundamental responsibility and from the glaring truth of the record-breaking crisis at our southern border.
The about-face came apparently at the urging of Donald Trump, Bidenâs presumptive opponent in November, who did not want Republicans to hand the president a pre-election victory on a campaign issue.
Chuck Schumer has released a lengthy statement about the commencement (and presumably very swift termination) of the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas this afternoon.
It is the âleast legitimate, least substantive, and most politicized impeachment trial in the history of the United States,â the Democratic Senate majority leader said, encapsulating remarks he made in the chamber just now and posted to Facebook:
The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.
For the sake of the Senateâs integrity, and to protect impeachment for those rare cases we truly need it, Senators should dismiss todayâs charges.
So, when we convene in trial today, to accommodate the wishes of our Republican Senate colleagues, I will seek an agreement for a period of debate time that would allow Republicans to offer a vote on trial resolutions, allow for Republicans to offer points of order, and then move to dismiss.
Letâs not kid ourselves about whatâs going on today: the impeachment of Alejandro Mayorkas has nothing to do with high crimes and misdemeanors and everything to do with helping Donald Trump on the campaign trail.
The votes could come in very short order, once Republicans have had their (very brief) say. The chamber has just convened to begin the proceedings.
Schumer concludes:
It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise.
Impeachment should never be used to settle policy disagreements. That would set a disastrous precedent for the Congress and could throw our system of checks and balances into endless cycles of chaos.
House to vote Saturday on foreign aid packages
Speaker Mike Johnson has announced the House will vote on Saturday evening on a foreign aid package, including money for Ukraine and Israel.
It looks like Congress members will vote on three separate bills, CNNâs chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju reports, even though their text has not yet been released.
âAfter significant member feedback and discussion, the House rules committee will be posting soon today the text of three bills that will fund Americaâs national security interests and allies in Israel, the Indo-Pacific, and Ukraine, including a loan structure for aid, and enhanced strategy and accountability,â a message from Johnson to colleagues states.
Senate Democrats, and Joe Biden, have said they will not accept standalone bills, although Republican sources have said Johnson could wrap up whatever passes the House into a single package.
We await reaction from Republican rightwingers, who have indicated disapproval of any measure that includes money for Ukraine, and have threatened to remove Johnson as speaker over it.
Schumer: Mayorkas impeachment 'illegitimate and profane abuse of constitution'
Itâs looking increasingly likely that Senate Democrats will move to kill the impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in the coming few hours.
âThis is an illegitimate and profane abuse of the US constitution,â Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer just told colleagues, according to reporting from the Guardianâs Lauren Gambino.
He said he would move to dismiss the two articles of impeachment after a âperiod of debate timeâ.
We reported earlier that Schumer was primed to call for a dismissal vote soon after senators were sworn in as jurors at lunchtime. It would deny Republican House impeachment managers an opportunity to present their case that Mayorkas is guilty of âhigh crimes and misdemeanorsâ for defying US law in pursuing immigration policies.
Some Republicans are already accusing Schumer of a âwhitewashâ and âcover-upâ even before the trial has begun. Democrats, meanwhile, say the impeachment is âan embarrassing political stuntâ.
Developments in Arizona over abortion, and the stateâs supreme court paving the way for an 1864 act outlawing the procedure to take effect, have prompted a significant change in prospects for Republicansâ fortunes in November elections.
According to Sabatoâs Crystal Ball, the website of the University of Virginiaâs respected pollster Larry Sabato, Arizonaâs open Senate race between Republican Kari Lake (if she wins her primary race, as expected) and challenger Ruben Gallego has shifted from âtoss-upâ to âleans Democraticâ.
Similarly, the congressional race in AZ district six, currently held by Republican Juan Ciscomani, has moved from âleans Republicanâ to âtoss-upâ.
Arizona Republicans have faced a huge backlash over the abortion issue, and particularly after they blocked Democratsâ early efforts to repeal the 1864 law.
Terry Greene Sterlingwrites for the Guardian today about how Democrats in Arizona expect abortion to fuel a âblue waveâ in November:
Itâs a day off in Donald Trumpâs criminal hush money trial in New York, but the Republican presumptive presidential nominee is keeping busy.
Heâs meeting Polandâs president Andrzej Duda, who once proposed naming a military base in his country Fort Trump, according to the Associated Press.
The pair will meet over dinner, the AP says, citing âa person familiar with the matterâ. The agency states European leaders are preparing for the possibility of Trumpâs return to the White House, with Nato leaders especially concerned given his support of Russiaâs leader Vladimir Putin.
Some in Poland fear the get-together could hurt the countryâs relationship with the Biden administration, the AP says, while others welcome the prospect of Duda leveraging ties with Trump to make the case for backing Ukraine.
Trumpâs trial for covering up a payment to an adult film star resumes on Thursday, with seven jurors already seated, and five more, plus six alternates, still needed. Judge Juan Merchan has said opening arguments could begin as early as Monday.
Have a read of the Guardianâs latest Trump on Trial newsletter here:
Bob Graham, a veteran Democratic politician who served two terms as Florida governor, three terms in the US Senate, and ran for president in 2004, has died at the age of 87.
Known for his dislike of partisan politics, Graham enjoyed a career that spanned five decades. He was massively popular with Floridaâs voters, and founded the concept of âworkdaysâ, where he would join citizens in their daily life and talk to them about the issues that concerned them.
During 408 such days, Graham enjoyed stints as a housewife, boxing ring announcer, flight attendant and arson investigator.
He gained national prominence as chairman of the Senate intelligence committee in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks, and as an early critic of the Iraq war that followed. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic partyâs presidential nomination in 2004.
âWe are deeply saddened to report the passing of a visionary leader, dedicated public servant, and even more importantly, a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather,â Grahamâs family said in a statement.
Republicans Ron DeSantis, the current Florida governor, and Jeb Bush, governor from 1999 to 2007, were among those paying tribute on Wednesday.
Thereâs news from Michigan, where the Guardianâs Alice Herman reports on Democrats seizing control of the stateâs lower house following special elections there:
Special elections for two vacant seats in the Michigan house of representatives flipped control back to Democrats, who organizers say could use their restored trifecta in the state to pass legislation protecting voting rights and election administration.
A push to codify voter protections stalled after two Democratic lawmakers resigned and the party lost their majority in the house of representatives last November. With the election on Tuesday of Mai Xiong and Peter Herzberg, who represent sections of Detroit and its suburbs, legislators could use their newfound majorities to renew those efforts.
In November 2022, Michigan voters passed a constitutional amendment enacting sweeping election reforms, including establishing early voting, expanding absentee voting and pre-empting the creation of stringent voter ID laws. The following year, the Democratic-controlled state legislature passed legislation to enact the amendment, setting aside more than $40m in the state budget to fund a measure to expand early and absentee voting, which was adopted by election clerks across the state.
Despite some hiccups along the way, election offices across the state have succeeded in enacting the newly guaranteed nine days of early voting. Ahead of the 27 February presidential primary, more than 1 million voters cast their ballots early and absentee â a record, according to the state. The secretary of stateâs office attributed the high turnout to the expanded early voting measure.
In their last legislative session, Michigan lawmakers introduced other measures to protect voting rights â including establishing, through a package of bills, a state-level Voting Rights Act and a ban on prison gerrymandering. The Michigan Voting Rights Act forms part of a slew of measures states have taken to fill in the gaps left by weakened federal voting rights protections: New York, Connecticut, Virginia, Oregon, Washington and California have already passed such legislation.
Read the full story:
Democrats plot to squash Mayorkas impeachment trial
The Senate impeachment trial of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas could be over before it even begins on Wednesday, as Democrats advance a plan to smother it.
According to the Associated Press, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer is expected to call votes to dismiss two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas after senators are sworn in as jurors at lunchtime.
Such a move could scuttle the trial, and frustrate Republicans who presented the articles and announced impeachment managers on Tuesday in expectation of being able to make their case that Mayorkas repeatedly ignored the law in pursuing immigration policy.
Republicans needed a second House vote in February to narrowly impeach Mayorkas after the first one ended in humiliation, and Democrats seized on it as âan embarrassing political stuntâ.
Some Senate Republicans are also skeptical. Utahâs Mitt Romney is open to voting with Democrats to dismiss the impeachment, Axios reports. Romney was among six moderate Republican senators who did not sign a letter from colleagues to Schumer demanding a trial, according to Newsweek.
Mayorkas, meanwhile, says heâs focused on running the homeland security department.
âAs they work on impeachment, I work on advancing the mission of the department. Thatâs what Iâve done throughout this process,â he told CBS Mornings.
The Republican infighting that has both stalled and overshadowed efforts to pass funding packages for Israel and Ukraine is still raging today, as speaker Mike Johnson clings to his job in the face of a growing rightwing rebellion.
So far, thereâs no sign of a formal plan for the urgently needed aid as Johnson mulls his best approach. Kentucky extremist Thomas Massie on Tuesday gave his support to a threat by Georgiaâs Marjorie Taylor Greene to invoke a âmotion to vacateâ if Johnson follows through with a plan to tie tens of billions of dollars in funding for Ukraine to money for Israel and Taiwan.
But standalone bills, which Johnson is also said to be considering, wonât cut it in the Democratic-controlled Senate, or with Joe Biden, who has indicated he wonât sign anything other than an all-in-one package.
And a number of Republican congress members insist they cannot support anything that would help Ukraine unless legislation includes money for strengthening the border.
Itâs a delicate dance, with no predictable outcome. Johnson, who can only afford to lose two Republican votes in any push to remove him, says he wonât resign, calling moves to oust him âabsurdâ.
Meanwhile, some Democrats are ready to step in to try to save him. Florida congressman Jared Moskowitz is among those who says heâs ready to keep Johnson in place in any House vote in order to secure the advancement of US aid for overseas allies.
According to Politico Playbook, Johnson is âsecond guessingâ his approach, resulting in a delay to publication of his plan, and growing unease among Republican leadership at the increasing dysfunction and chaos.
Weâll keep an eye on developments and bring you news of any proposals as theyâre published.
Read more:
House Republicans spar over foreign aid bill as Senate Democrats plot to crush Mayorkas impeachment
Good morning and happy hump day to US politics readers. Wednesday could finally see the publication of speaker Mike Johnsonâs long-awaited plan to save his job, quell Republican infighting and advance urgent foreign aid for Israel and Ukraine.
Thereâs been plenty of talk, and little action so far, on how the Republican leader plans to present solutions for the funding impasse that has further highlighted fractures in his divided caucus.
Any misstep could trigger a âmotion to vacateâ by rebel-rousers Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie, and potentially see Johnsonâs departure from the speakerâs chair, unless Democrats step in to save him.
Weâll bring you news of any firm proposals as we get them.
Elsewhere today, the Senateâs Democratic majority is plotting to sink the impeachment of homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, following Tuesdayâs presentation of two articles by the Republican House majority.
Majority leader Chuck Schumer has a plan to bring votes to dismiss the charges, after senators are sworn in as jurors on Wednesday, but before arguments can begin, according to the Associated Press.
And Joe Biden is on the campaign trail with steelworkers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this afternoon. The president is pitching a plan to increase taxes on high earners, and is expected to continue bashing Donald Trump, whose hush-money trial in New York has an off-day today.
Hereâs what else weâre following:
Democrats in Arizona are preparing to try to repeal the controversial 1864 abortion bill that has prompted huge blowback and poses a threat to Republican candidates in Novemberâs elections.
Attorney general Merrick Garland and energy secretary Jennifer Granholm are testifying before the Senateâs appropriations subcommittee this morning.
Long-serving Florida governor and US senator Bob Graham, a Democratic political heavyweight who also ran for president in 2004, has died aged 87.