By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives said on Wednesday that he will seek to impeach President Joe Biden’s top border official, a sign of coming political battles over record numbers of illegal crossings under the Democratic president.
Representative Andy Biggs, from the border state of Arizona, said he would file articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom many Republicans blame for what they say are lax border policies.
The impeachment push could find support in the Republican-controlled House but is unlikely to advance in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Still, the impeachment effort could increase pressure on Biden and Mayorkas as they struggle to balance pledges to restore asylum access with record crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.
A top Biden border official stepped down in November after saying he had been urged to leave by Mayorkas.
“I have a congressional responsibility to impeach figures who are in dereliction of their duties and commit crimes,” Biggs tweeted. “If we don’t impeach him, his attack on this nation will continue.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in November called on Mayorkas to step down, saying Republicans could impeach him if he did not. Biggs previously filed impeachment charges against Mayorkas in August 2021, but they did not advance in the then-Democrat-controlled House.
Republican Donald Trump was impeached by the House twice during his presidency, when Democrats had the majority in the lower chamber.
If impeachment charges are filed, the House Judiciary Committee would conduct an investigation that could lead to a committee vote on whether to approve charges against Mayorkas.
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington; Additional reporting by Rick Cowan; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
