WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, released the following statement on the Senate trial of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas: 

“Republicans in the House of Representatives and the Senate disagree with President Joe Biden’s border policies. They say this frequently. In response, they should work with Democrats and pass a comprehensive border security package, like the one that was negotiated last year and should have been approved as part of a supplemental appropriations bill months ago. Republicans say they want reform and change, yet they continuously block the necessary funding and policy change to do so. Impeachment is not the proper vehicle for responding to policy differences. It should be reserved for high crimes and misdemeanors, as proscribed by the Constitution – and Secretary Mayorkas has not engaged in any behavior that would rise to this constitutional level. Despite the bluster, a majority of Senate Republicans and even some House Republicans and their legal scholars know this to be true.

“The Senate needs to get back to real work on behalf of the American people and not keep playing partisan games to run out the clock on the Biden-Harris administration’s first term. Among other priorities deserving of floor time, we should be approving comprehensive border security reform and providing desperately needed assistance to our allies in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region.” 

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