Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is speaking out in favor of the Senate putting U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on trial for his role in what Republicans say is a crisis at the southern border.
The U.S. House has voted to impeach Mayorkas and next week, will send the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial. Grassley says Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is angling to get rid of the articles without a trial.
“The Senate has constitutional responsibility to hold an impeachment trial,” Grassley says. “Skipping the trial would be totally unprecedented. Now, just imagine the outrage if Senate Republicans had refused to hold a trial when House Democrats impeached Trump.”
Grassley released a video statement saying Schumer sent his Senate colleagues a letter last week, listing 17 priority items for action, a list that did not include the Farm Bill, nor an impeachment trial.
“Skipping the trial this time around would be a blatantly hypocritical move,” Grassley says. “Schumer’s trying to sweep the Biden administration border mess right under the rug. The Senate must hold a trial.”
Grassley has signed a letter with 42 other Republican senators, calling on Schumer to hold the trial. The letter calls the southern border “a national security disaster,” and says, “The border crisis under Secretary Mayorkas has become a nightmare for the American people.”