Democrats KILL Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment: Both charges against Biden's border chief are dismissed as first trial of a cabinet secretary in 150 years ends early

Democratic Senators have dismissed both impeachment charges against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and blocked a historic trial over his role the border crisis.

President Biden's border chief escaped an investigation and first impeachment of a cabinet secretary in 150 years after the Senate voted along party lines to kill both articles.

Republicans claimed their rivals were trying to 'set the Constitution ablaze' and break '200 years of precedent' by shutting down the trial before it had even began.

The GOP says Mayorkas is to blame for the historic surge in migrants crossing the southern border and claim his policies show the dire situation is intentional.

It is a victory for the White House who have called the impeachment a sham, and an embarrassing defeat for House Republicans who have also stalled in their investigation into President Biden. 

The Senate voted along party lines 51 - 48, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski voting 'present,' to kill the first article against the Homeland Security secretary. Over an hour later, the second article was squarely voted down 51-49. 

All 100 senators were present on the floor for the trial and the chamber spent just three hours on the impeachment proceedings.

The House GOP voted to impeach him in February on two articles - one for refusing to comply with the law, and a second for lying to Congress about the severity of the migrant crisis which has seen record highs for apprehensions in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has claimed Republicans are playing political games with this impeachment and ultimately he and the Democrats were able to kill the impeachment articles, voting against every Republican attempt to keep them alive.

'Today’s decision by the Senate to reject House Republicans’ baseless attacks on Secretary Mayorkas proves definitively that there was no evidence or Constitutional grounds to justify impeachment,' DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said following the failed impeachment votes. 

'As he has done throughout more than 20 years of dedicated public service, Secretary Mayorkas will continue working every day to enforce our laws and protect our country.'

'It’s time for Congressional Republicans to support the Department’s vital mission instead of wasting time playing political games and standing in the way of commonsense, bipartisan border reforms.'

But Republicans said the short Senate trial is evidence that Democrats do not take their responsibilities seriously. 

'By voting unanimously to bypass their constitutional responsibility, every single Senate Democrat has issued their full endorsement of the Biden Administration’s dangerous open border policies,' said a joint statement from House Republican leadership following the conclusion of the trial. 

'Secretary Mayorkas alongside President Biden has used nearly every tool at his disposal to engineer the greatest humanitarian and national security catastrophe at our borders in American history.'

Despite the Republicans pointed criticism, the impeachment ended in a devastating blow against the GOP.

Still, the event was a rare spectacle that does not often occur on Capitol Hill.  

The Senate Pro-Tempore Emeritus, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, swore in the current Senate President Pro-Tempore Patty Murray, D-Wash., to preside over the Mayorkas impeachment trial.

In a stunning historical moment, every senator raised their hands in unison to be sworn-in as jurors. They then were called in groups of four to sign the oath book.

As the impeachment proceedings kicked off, Schumer outlined the ground rules for the trial. 

The Democrat leader said there will be seven points of order allowed on the first article - which claims Mayorkas broke federal immigration laws - followed by an hour of debate. 

After, the Senate will be allowed just one point of order on the second charge - that Mayorkas' breached the public's trust - and another hour of debate will ensue. 

Then the Senate will take a vote on the charges and the court of impeachment will be adjourned. 

'It is beneath the dignity of the Senate to entertain this nakedly partisan exercise, one that both conservative and liberal legal scholars agree fails to meet the high standard demanded by impeachment,' Schumer declared.

But Republicans claim that Mayorkas' handling of border security has been atrocious, saying an estimated nine million illegal immigrants have entered the U.S. since he first took office. 

'A fair trial seeks the truth, nothing more, nothing less. I will not assist Senator Schumer in setting our Constitution ablaze, bulldozing 200 years of precedent. Therefore, I object,' Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., fired back. 

Sen. Ted Cruz initiated a motion to bring the hearing into a closed session to try and allow the impeachment managers to give their case to a smaller Senate audience, but the motion was defeated by Democrats 51 - 49. 

Following Cruz's motion, Sen. John Kennedy introduced a motion to adjourn until April 30.  It was also defeated.

After Kennedy's motion, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced a motion to table Schumer's point of order that declared the hearing unconstitutional. 

Again, the Republicans motion failed. 

Shortly after, the first article of impeachment against Mayorkas failed. 

Notably, on that vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, split with her colleagues and voted present.

Once the first article failed, similar motions were introduced on the second article of impeachment against Mayorkas. 

They sought to bring the articles into close session and to adjourn the Senate until April 30. They both failed. 

Then Kennedy introduced a motion to adjourn the Senate until May 1. 

That motion failed too.

Another motion introduced by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., sought to adjourn the Senate until November 6, the day after the 2024 elections. 

The motion received laughs from some Republicans before it, like all those Republican-introduced motions before it, failed. 

Then shortly after the second article of impeachment against Mayorkas failed.  

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has claimed Republicans are playing political games with this impeachment and said he would kill the trial immediately after it begins.

'I will seek an agreement for a period of debate time that would allow Republicans to offer a vote on trial resolutions, allow for Republicans to offer points of order and then move to dismiss,' Schumer said Wednesday. 

His announcement that he would quickly dismiss the articles all but killed the GOP's hopes for a full trial.

Though, some lawmakers may be thankful for the quick process as they are not allowed to leave the Senate floor while the impeachment proceedings continue. 

Additionally, a strange Senate rule prohibits them from bringing any food or drink on the floor that is not water, milk or candy. 

Sens. Markwayne Mullin, Roger Marshall, Ted Cruz and John Kennedy were all spotted with glasses of milk on their desks. 

House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February after he 'refused to comply with Federal immigration laws' amid a record surge of migrants and that he has 'breached the public trust' in his claims to Congress that the US-Mexico border is secure.

The GOP impeachment managers delivered the physical articles to the upper chamber Tuesday in a dramatic march from the House to the Senate.

In two parallel single-file lines the 11 managers marched from the House chamber to the Senate. 

Upon arrival to the Senate, manager Mark Green, R-Tenn., read the charges against Mayorkas aloud.