Top-ranking Republican Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mallorcas to resign, warning that the House of Representatives would seek to impeach him once Republicans win a majority of seats in the lower house of Congress in January. next.
McCarthy, who hopes to become the new Speaker of the House in January, added that his fellow congressmen will hold hearings on the border with Mexico after they take control of the House. In this way, Republicans want to force Democrats to visit and see for themselves that there is a border security crisis.
Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden for the record number of illegal migrants detained crossing the southern border, saying the current administration’s lenient policies are encouraging more people to enter the country illegally.
“Our country may never recover from Minister Majorcas’ dereliction of duty,” McCarthy told reporters in El Paso, Texas on Tuesday after speaking with border officials. “That’s why today I call on the minister to resign.”
“If Minister Mallorcas does not resign, Republicans in the House of Representatives will investigate every order, every action and every failure to determine if we can launch an impeachment inquiry,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa disagreed with McCarthy’s comments.
“Minister Mallorcas is proud to advance the noble mission of the department by supporting our distinguished executives and serving the American people,” Espinosa said. “He has no intention of retiring.”
After winning a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Republicans held a series of press conferences to outline their priorities for the next two years. They warned last week that Joe Biden and his son Hunter would also be prime targets for their investigations.
Democrats will retain their majority in the Senate for the next two years. While the House of Representatives has the power to initiate an impeachment inquiry, only the Senate can make a final decision, and senators from Biden’s party are unlikely to join in the impeachment of a cabinet member. practice.
Last week, Republicans on the Government Oversight and Reform Committee sent a letter to Majorca, saying the committee was about to call 11 Department of Homeland Security officials, including Majorca himself, to testify.
Mallorcas, 62, has come under fire from Republican lawmakers, including those who have previously called for his resignation and impeachment.
In February 2021, the Cuban-born man who moved to the united states at the age of one, Majorca became the first Hispanic US Secretary of Homeland Security and the first naturalized foreigner to be appointed to . . In the Obama administration, he served in the same department from 2009 to 2016, first as head of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the division of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for naturalization. of Aliens and the Operation of the Immigration System, and five years later, becoming Under-Secretary.
The White House says that the increase in migration flows is a phenomenon that has swept the entire western hemisphere and extends well beyond the US-Mexico border, saying they are trying to create a more efficient immigration system ordered.
Last week, a federal judge ruled an order blocking migrants at the border during a pandemic illegal, but postponed lifting until Dec. 21.
Chris Magnus, the former head of US Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, resigned in early November, saying Mallorca had effectively forced him to resign from the agency.
McCarthy, who hopes to become the new Speaker of the House in January, added that his fellow congressmen will hold hearings on the border with Mexico after they take control of the House. In this way, Republicans want to force Democrats to visit and see for themselves that there is a border security crisis.
Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden for the record number of illegal migrants detained crossing the southern border, saying the current administration’s lenient policies are encouraging more people to enter the country illegally.
“Our country may never recover from Minister Majorcas’ dereliction of duty,” McCarthy told reporters in El Paso, Texas on Tuesday after speaking with border officials. “That’s why today I call on the minister to resign.”
“If Minister Mallorcas does not resign, Republicans in the House of Representatives will investigate every order, every action and every failure to determine if we can launch an impeachment inquiry,” he added.
Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Marsha Espinosa disagreed with McCarthy’s comments.
“Minister Mallorcas is proud to advance the noble mission of the department by supporting our distinguished executives and serving the American people,” Espinosa said. “He has no intention of retiring.”
After winning a narrow majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, Republicans held a series of press conferences to outline their priorities for the next two years. They warned last week that Joe Biden and his son Hunter would also be prime targets for their investigations.
Democrats will retain their majority in the Senate for the next two years. While the House of Representatives has the power to initiate an impeachment inquiry, only the Senate can make a final decision, and senators from Biden’s party are unlikely to join in the impeachment of a cabinet member. practice.
Last week, Republicans on the Government Oversight and Reform Committee sent a letter to Majorca, saying the committee was about to call 11 Department of Homeland Security officials, including Majorca himself, to testify.
Mallorcas, 62, has come under fire from Republican lawmakers, including those who have previously called for his resignation and impeachment.
In February 2021, the Cuban-born man who moved to the united states at the age of one, Majorca became the first Hispanic US Secretary of Homeland Security and the first naturalized foreigner to be appointed to . . In the Obama administration, he served in the same department from 2009 to 2016, first as head of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the division of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for naturalization. of Aliens and the Operation of the Immigration System, and five years later, becoming Under-Secretary.
The White House says that the increase in migration flows is a phenomenon that has swept the entire western hemisphere and extends well beyond the US-Mexico border, saying they are trying to create a more efficient immigration system ordered.
Last week, a federal judge ruled an order blocking migrants at the border during a pandemic illegal, but postponed lifting until Dec. 21.
Chris Magnus, the former head of US Customs and Border Protection, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, resigned in early November, saying Mallorca had effectively forced him to resign from the agency.
