Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley comes out against the House Republican effort to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, saying they have no “cognizable basis” to do so.
In an interview with Fox News, Turley argued that being a “bad cabinet member” does not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors which would warrant Mayorkas’ removal from office.
“I don’t think they’ve established any of these basis for impeachment,” Turley said. “The fact is, impeachment is not for being a bad cabinet member or even for being a bad person. It is a very narrow standard.”
Turley is a Constitutional Law professor at George Washington University who regularly makes appearances on Fox News and is Republicans go-to witness in impeachment proceedings in Congress.
On Sunday, House Republicans unveiled Mayorkas impeachment articles accusing the DHS secretary of “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law” and a “breach of public trust”.
“I just don’t believe that they have a cognizable basis here for impeachment,” Turley said. “The first article is basically a disagreement about the level of enforcement being done by this administration.”
Impeachment of a cabinet official is rare. Only one has ever been impeached in American history and that was the Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876.
The Homeland Security Committee will meet Tuesday to mark up the articles against Mayorkas.
“These articles lay out a clear, compelling, and irrefutable case for Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment,” House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said in a statement.
“The results of his lawless behavior have been disastrous for our country,” he added.
