Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas ignored questions on Thursday about House Republicans’ calls for his impeachment.
The House Republican Study Committee stated its plans to impeach Mayorkas over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border since assuming office in 2020. Then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to introduce articles of impeachment once Republicans took back the House if Mayorkas did not resign.
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin asked the secretary for comment on his possible impeachment and the upcoming House hearings on the border.
“Mr. Secretary, any comments on Republicans calling for your impeachment?” Melugin asked.
“Good morning,” Mayorkas replied.
“They’ve announced an oversight hearing for the border next month, will you cooperate, sir?” he asked, as Mayorkas walked away in silence.
The secretary initially dodged questions about a possible impeachment during a Jan. 3 press conference on the ongoing migrant crisis. (RELATED: ‘Resign’: Biden’s DHS Secretary Shredded For Claiming The Border Is ‘Secure’)
“I’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do … and I will continue to do that work,” he replied in response to an impeachment question. “The longevity of these programs is something that of course depends on what we are experiencing at the border and the dynamism, as I mentioned, of the migration challenge that is gripping this hemisphere and frankly the entire world.”
The House Oversight committee will hold its first probe into the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis on Feb. 6 and has called on Mayorkas and several Border Patrol sector chiefs to provide documents that are deemed relevant to the investigation.
Since Mayorkas took office, migrant apprehension numbers exceeded a record-high levels, passing 2.3 million in the 2022 fiscal year, which began in October 2021. Border officials encountered an all-time high of over 250,000 migrants in December 2022, the second month of the 2023 fiscal year.
Mayorkas has repeatedly insisted that the border is “secure” and that the Biden administration has the situation under control.