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| Photo: Saul Loeb/ AFP/Getty Images |
There is a fine line between stretched truth and outright lies. In a series of recent congressional hearings, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seems to have found that line and pitched his tent on it.
Mayorkas gave revealing testifimony Wednesday before both the Senate Appropriations Committee and a House Appropriations subcommittee.
Such hearings tend to go like this: Senators or representatives in the same party as the testifying executive branch official ask tough questions such as: “Sir, thank you for all your hard work. Just how awesome are you, and how excellent is your agency?”
Then it’s the turn of the opposing party, who may ask real questions seeking to hold the official to account.
Mayorkas’ two-fer testimony Wednesday was right in line with expectations. But if you listened to it all, the naked truth came out.
First, Mayorkas avoids definitions. When asked by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., what an “assault weapon” is, on the reasonable premise that if you’re going to ban something, you first need to define it, Mayorkas dithered, hedged, and dodged
In the House hearing, Mayorkas tried again to defend his redefinition of the term “border security.”
Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, contrasted the testimony of Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz with that of Mayorkas. With “a total of 6 million encounters along the southwest border,” Cloud asked, “do you still maintain today that our border is secure?” --->READ MORE HERE
It’s almost an understatement to say that Republican candidates campaigned hawkishly on border control in the runup to the 2022 midterms: As they decried the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs from Mexico, many vowed to impeach the man they largely blamed for the mess, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Republicans have continued hammering Mayorkas since taking control of the House. Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who called the flooding of more than 5 million illegal immigrants across the southern border since President Biden took office an “intentional” policy, has made several visits to the U.S.-Mexico border with other Republicans, and the House has held multiple hearings on immigration.
But as winter has turned to spring, the GOP has taken little action to remove Mayorkas. Republicans Andy Biggs of Arizona and Pat Fallon of Texas have each filed bills, but the House Judiciary Committee, from which any impeachment move must come, has not taken up either resolution.
Conservative groups focused on the southern border told RealClearInvestigations that impeachment did not come up during recent meetings in Washington.
“I just came from the Hill and a bunch of meetings with staffers and they’re reporting the same thing; one said the conference is split, with a lot of GOP ‘George W. Bush types’ who love the cheap labor for American industry and agriculture,” said Todd Bensman of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies and author of “Overrun: How Joe Biden Unleashed the Greatest Border Crisis in U.S. History.”
Bensman calls it an “old story,” but cheap labor is only part of it. Republicans aren’t united on this issue because some fear that following through on impeachment talk will alienate the moderate swing voters that the GOP needs to remain in control of the House.
Even Republicans who have publicly attacked Mayorkas are now reticent about discussing impeachment. RCI reached out to 16 GOP House members for comment. Neither Biggs nor Fallon responded. Virginia Rep. Bob Good, a member of the Freedom Caucus who is co-sponsor of both resolutions, declined to comment on the record. Other outspoken administration critics such as Dan Crenshaw of Texas, Tom McClintock of California, and Matt Gaetz of Florida did not respond.
Only two of the 16 Republican House members agreed to speak on the record. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
Brandon Judd to Newsmax: Impeach Mayorkas for Lying
Cruz to Mayorkas: 'If you had integrity, you would resign'
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