Biden admin hires impeachment attorneys to defend Mayorkas

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has hired lawyers from a firm that previously represented House Democrats in the impeachment trial of then-President Donald Trump to protect the agency’s secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, Politico reported Friday.

DHS signed a contract with Debevoise & Plimpton, a firm whose lawyers helped House Democrats in 2020 with their case for impeaching Trump, to help Mayorkas as House Republicans move to impeach the secretary, according to Politico. For months, House Republicans have indicated they will move towards impeaching Mayorkas for his handling of the crisis at the southern border.

Several House Republicans, including Reps. Pat Fallon of Texas and Andy Biggs of Arizona, have filed articles of impeachment as the new majority took control of the House. Then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy also threatened Mayorkas in November with impeachment if he didn’t resign.

“The Department of Homeland Security has retained outside counsel to help ensure the department’s vital mission is not interrupted by the unprecedented, unjustified, and partisan impeachment efforts by some Members of Congress, who have already taken steps to initiate proceedings,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement, according to Politico.

“We do not want this to distract the secretary or the department from the important homeland security, national security work that we do day to day,” a DHS official also told Politico. “We are protecting the country from terrorist attacks by air, by sea. We are protecting the country from cybersecurity attacks. We are securing the borders.”

Debevoise & Plimpton declined to comment.

Under Mayorkas’ tenure, DHS has overseen record surges in illegal immigration at the southern border, where the agency recorded more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022.

“Everyone agrees that the immigration system has been terribly broken and outdated for decades. It is my hope that Congress takes that problem and fixes it once and for all,” Mayorkas said in a statement to Politico.

“In the meantime, within a broken system, we are doing everything that we can to increase its efficiency, to provide humanitarian relief when the law permits, and to also deliver an enforcement consequence when the law dictates,” he said. “That is exactly what we are doing, and I will continue to do that with tremendous pride alongside the incredible workforce at DHS.”

DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment.

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