CV NEWS FEED // A Harvard poll has revealed that a significant majority of Americans – including almost half of Democrats – support the impeachment of Biden administration Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.
Critics from across the political spectrum have accused Mayorkas and his Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of playing a role in bringing about the unprecedented crisis at the nation’s southern border.
Two weeks ago, the Republican-controlled House impeached Mayorkas by a single-vote margin, citing his “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and “breach of public trust.”
The stunning vote made the secretary only the second Cabinet official in American history – and the first since 1876 – to be impeached.
Three Republicans joined all voting Democrats in opposition to Mayorkas’ impeachment.
>> HOUSE IMPEACHES MAYORKAS BY ONE VOTE <<
The poll asked respondents if they supported or opposed the House’s decision to impeach the DHS chief “under the charge that he is willfully not enforcing immigration laws and securing the border?”
Sixty-two percent of voters surveyed indicated that they supported impeachment, while 38% opposed it.
When respondents were broken down by party, 81% of Republicans, 54% of independents, and a stunning 48% of Democrats supported impeaching Mayorkas.
These results contrast with the near-party-line vote in the House – where not a single Democrat voted to impeach.
Harvard’s Center for American Political Studies (CAPS) conducted the poll last week.
Breitbart’s Neil Munro wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the poll results are “bad news for the Democratic Senators’ plan to abort a Senate trial.”
In a Wednesday article, Munro wrote that Rep. Mike Johnson, R-LA, “has not sent the formal legal charges to the Senate, partly because he wants to head off expected claims by Democratic Senators that they have no time to conduct the impeachment trial.”
“Johnson will likely send the paperwork once the 2024 budget disputes are settled,” Munro added.
The speaker, along with other House Republican leaders, supported the impeachment.
>> EXPLAINER: WHAT IS IMPEACHMENT? <<
POLITICO reported earlier this week that “a growing number of Senate Democrats said they support dismissing the upcoming impeachment trial for [Mayorkas] — a move that would effectively end the trial within minutes.”
“A motion to dismiss the Mayorkas impeachment articles would only take a simple majority to pass in the Senate, where Democrats hold 51 seats,” POLITICO continued:
Even some Democratic centrists are already for dismissing the trial altogether, voiding months of work over in the Republican-controlled House.
“Absolutely,” retiring Sen. Joe Manchin [D-WV] said on whether he’d support a motion to dismiss. “Immediately that should be done. It’s ridiculous.”
