Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., followed through with months of threats by filing articles of impeachment against the White House administration’s Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday.
“I have a congressional responsibility” to “remove a public official from office … who is causing public harm,” Biggs said on Fox News on Tuesday.
Biggs said Mayorkas’ mismanagement of the border by removing Trump-era rules was intentional and meant to cause chaos.
“High crimes means that you are a public official, and you have violated the public trust, and you have to be removed,” he said.
“Quite frankly, the first thing that goes when a country is actually devolving is when you lose your geographical integrity,” he said, adding that it is clear to him Mayorkas is intentionally causing chaos in his own country.
Mayorkas “has willfully imposed his own dangerous policies on us,” Biggs said. “It’s not negligence. It’s not incompetence. It’s willful.”
Republican Party leaders have called for Mayorkas to resign for months.
“If Secretary Mayorkas does not resign, House Republicans will investigate every order, every action, and every failure to determine whether we can begin an impeachment inquiry,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., warned in November.
Biggs formerly announced the news on social media Wednesday —
Today I am filing impeachment articles against DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
I have a congressional responsibility to impeach figures who are in dereliction of their duties and commit crimes.
If we don't impeach him, his attack on this nation will continue.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 1, 2023
The Horn editorial team