MAYORKAS IMPEACHMENT ADVANCES
After a marathon 14-hour markup session, Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee early morning advanced resolutions to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The resolutions passed in a party-line vote of 18-15. They cap off years of GOP frustration with President Joe Biden’s handling of the border.
(L-R) Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), and Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) meet with other lawmakers to mark up articles of impeachment against Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro N. Mayorkas in Washington on Jan. 30, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Republicans on the weekend introduced two articles of impeachment against the embattled DHS chief. The last time a cabinet secretary was impeached was nearly 150 years ago.
The first claims that Mayorkas has engaged in “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.” The second argued that he “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.”
Lawmakers considered the resolutions in an abnormally heated markup hearing, where tensions ran high and accusations of partisanship abounded.
Democrats, opposing the resolutions, sought to stall their passage by a series of legislative maneuvers.
At the center of the hearing was the border, which has become a top political issue for voters and lawmakers alike in recent months.
Under Biden and Mayorkas, the U.S. has grappled with an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens and encounters at the southern border, rounding off at north of 6.5 million people—larger than the population of many U.S. states.
Republicans arguing in support of the resolutions said that Mayorkas had failed to protect the U.S. homeland intentionally for partisan reasons. They cited his broad use of parole authority, whereby illegal aliens captured at the border are released into the U.S. pending a court hearing.
Democrats, meanwhile, argued that the impeachment articles were unprecedented, and said that Republicans were effectively basing the resolutions on policy disagreements.
Republicans have dismissed this argument.
“We have all the evidence showing that Mayorkas has willfully violated his oath of office,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told reporters. “He’s also broken federal immigration laws by paroling aliens into our country in mass numbers. We’re talking about millions of people. That’s a violation of our federal immigration laws.”
In the House, even the more moderate members of the Republican conference have indicated their support for the resolutions.
“I don’t see how any rational legislator can look at [Mayorkas], his track record…. his mission versus the results of what he’s accomplishing or not, and then look at that and go, ‘Hey, this dude should keep his job,” Rep. Mike Garcia (R-Calif.) told The Epoch Times.
With the resolutions passed through committee, they’ll now go to the House floor for a vote, where it is uncertain the measure will pass—Republicans can only lose one or two votes (depending on who’s present).
However, even if he is impeached, Mayorkas will almost certainly be acquitted after a trial in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
—Joseph Lord
CCP FUNDING IRAN AND RUSSIA
The Chinese Communist Party is supporting Iran and Russia with the intent of undermining the United States and the international order it leads, Congress has heard.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said before the House Select Committee on the CCP that the United States was losing its ability to deter aggression from the increasingly aligned authoritarian regimes.
“We’ve got deterrence lost in Europe. We have deterrence lost in the Middle East. We are on the cusp of losing that very deterrent model in Asia as well,” Mr. Pompeo said.
“There are Iranian drones going to Russia to kill Ukrainian kids. There’s Russian energy flowing to China. There’s Chinese semiconductors flowing to the Russian defense industry. There’s Iranian oil [going] into both Russia and China.”
The CCP’s efforts to support Iran, North Korea, and Russia have been increasingly well documented in recent years, and fit into a wider effort to reshape the international order.
There is evidence that the CCP is helping Tehran with direct aid, including through barter deals with Iran which circumvent the need for sanctionable currency transactions.
Likewise, Mr. Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “no limits” partnership in 2022, and have since signed a joint declaration deepening the nations’ “comprehensive strategic partnership.”
Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta also testified, saying that the effort to undermine and replace the international order must be met with strength.
“I really do think that China and Russia grew more aggressive because they sensed weakness from the United States,” Mr. Panetta said.
“If we fail to provide leadership then we will govern by crisis.”
—Andrew Thornebrooke
BIDEN DECIDES ON RETALIATION FOR ATTACK
President Joe Biden has decided how to retaliate against the Iran-backed militants responsible for an attack that killed three American soldiers over the weekend.
The White House is remaining quiet on just what that decision is, but the president suggested he would not seek a war with Tehran.
“I do hold [Iran] responsible in the sense that they’re supplying the weapons to the people who did it,” President Biden told reporters on Jan. 30.
“I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That’s not what I’m looking for.”
Despite the decision, the administration has not yet finished its investigation into what group was actually responsible for the attack.
“I’m not in a position today to confirm what group is responsible,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.
“We’re going to respond and we’re going to do it in a way and a time of our choosing.”
Asked whether the president would commit to more forceful retaliation than he has in the past, Mr. Kirby said that President Biden would “do what he has to do.”
“The guiding principle is making sure that we continue to degrade the kinds of capabilities that these groups have at their disposal to use against our troops and our facilities, and to send a strong signal to their backers in the IRGC that these attacks are unacceptable.”
—Andrew Thornebrooke
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Tech CEOs, including from Meta, X, TikTok, and Snap, will testify before a Senate panel on online child sexual exploitation.
- FBI Director Christopher Wray, CISA Director Jen Easterly, Gen. Paul Nakasone, Commander of U.S. Cyber Command, and Harry Coker, Jr., Director of the Office of the National Cyber Director, will testify before the House China panel on the CCP’s cyber threat to the U.S.
- A New York judge is expected to issue a verdict on damages in the civil fraud case against former President Donald Trump and his business empire.
In 2020, Rep. Jim Clyburn’s (D-S.C.) support helped launch Biden to the White House by gaining him wide support among black voters. But this time around, NBC reports, black voters aren’t listening.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is currently running for president as an independent candidate, but he’s keeping his options open. The Epoch Times’ Jeff Louderback reported that the candidate is considering an alliance with the Libertarian Party, which would ensure that he appeared on the ballot in all 50 states.
Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) is being investigated for alleged misuse of campaign funds, The Epoch Times’ Zachary Stieber reported. Bush later acknowledged the allegations but insisted she hadn’t violated any rules.
Pro-life activists are facing a decade in prison after being found guilty by a Nashville jury, The Epoch Times’ Beth Brelje reported. They were convicted by a jury of five men and eleven women of a felony violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrance Act and a conspiracy charge for trying to talk women out of aborting their babies at a now-closed abortion clinic.
