Congressional Record, Volume 170 Issue 67 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)

[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 17, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2802-S2807]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

TRIAL OF ALEJANDRO NICHOLAS MAYORKAS, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Pursuant to rule III of the Rules of
Procedure and Practice in the Senate when sitting on impeachment
trials, the hour of 1 p.m. having arrived and a quorum having been
established, the Senate will proceed to the consideration of the
Articles of Impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of
Homeland Security.
The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, at this time, pursuant to rule III of
the Senate rules on impeachment and the United States Constitution, the
President pro tempore emeritus, the Senator from Iowa, will now
administer the oath to the President pro tempore, Patty Murray:
Mr. GRASSLEY: Will you place your left hand on the Bible and raise
your right hand.
Do you solemnly swear that, in all things appertaining to the trial
of the impeachment of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland
Security, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the
Constitution and laws, so help you God?
Mrs. MURRAY. I do.
At this time, I will administer the oath to all Senators in the
Chamber in conformance with article I, section 3, clause 6 of the
Constitution and the Senate's impeachment rules.
Will all Senators now stand and raise their right hands.
Do you solemnly swear that in all things appertaining to the trial of
the impeachment of Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland
Security, now pending, you will do impartial justice according to the
Constitution and laws, so help you God?
SENATORS. I do.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will now call the names in
groups of four. The Senators will present themselves at the desk to
sign the Oath Book.
The legislative clerk called the roll, and the Senators present
answered ``I do'' and signed the Official Oath Book.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, any Senator who was not in the Senate
Chamber at the time the oath was administered to the other Senators
will make that fact known to the Chair so that the oath may be
administered as soon as possible to the Senator.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Sergeant at Arms will make the
proclamation.
The Sergeant at Arms, Karen Gibson, made proclamation as follows:

Hear ye! Hear ye! Hear ye! All persons are commanded to
keep silence, under pain of

[[Page S2803]]

imprisonment, while the Senate of the United States is
convened as a Court of Impeachment to consider the Articles
of Impeachment against Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of
Homeland Security.

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader is recognized.

Unanimous Consent Requests

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in a moment, I will ask unanimous
consent to allow for debate time, to allow for Republicans to offer and
have votes on trial resolutions, and allow for Republicans to offer and
have votes on points of order.
So I ask unanimous consent that Senator Lee be recognized to offer a
resolution that is the text of S. Res. 624, the full Senate trial; that
Senator Cruz be recognized to offer a resolution that is the text of S.
Res. 622, the trial committee; that there then be up to 60 minutes of
debate on the resolutions, concurrently and equally divided between the
two leaders or their designees; and following the use or yielding back
of that time, the Senate vote on, or in relation to, the resolutions in
the order listed, with no amendments to the resolutions in order;
further, that following the disposition of the trial resolutions, if
they are not agreed to, Senator Schumer, or his designee, be recognized
to make a motion to dismiss the first Article of Impeachment; that the
motion be subject to only seven points of order; that there be up to 60
minutes for debate, concurrently and equally divided, on the motion to
dismiss and the points of order; and that following the use or yielding
back of that time, the Senate vote in relation to the points of order
in the order raised and the motion to dismiss; further, that if Senator
Schumer, or his designee, makes a motion to dismiss the second Article
of Impeachment, that the motion be subject to only one point of order;
that there be up to 60 minutes for debate, concurrently and equally
divided, on the motion to dismiss and the points of order; and that
following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote in
relation to the points of order in the order raised and the motion to
dismiss; further, that following disposition of article II, the Senate
vote on the motion to adjourn the Court of Impeachment sine die;
finally, that there be up to 4 minutes for debate, equally divided
between the two leaders or their designees, prior to each rollcall
vote, all without intervening action or debate.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection?
The Senator from Missouri.
Mr. SCHMITT. Madam President, reserving my right to object, to
dismiss or table the Articles of Impeachment against Secretary Mayorkas
without trial here today or in committee is an unprecedented move by
Senator Schumer. Never before in the history of our Republic has the
Senate dismissed or tabled Articles of Impeachment when the impeached
individual was alive and had not resigned.
As Senator Schumer said in 2020:

A fair trial has witnesses. A fair trial has relevant
documents, as part of the record. A fair trial seeks the
truth. [Nothing] more, [nothing] less.

I will not assist Senator Schumer in setting our Constitution ablaze
and bulldozing 200 years of precedent. Therefore, I object.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.
The majority leader.

Point of Order

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I raise a point of order that
impeachment article I does not allege conduct that rises to the level
of a high crime or misdemeanor, as required under article II, section 4
of the U.S. Constitution and is, therefore, unconstitutional.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the precedents and practices of the
Senate, the Chair has no power or authority to pass on such a point of
order. The Chair, therefore, under the precedents of the Senate,
submits the question to the Senate: Is the point of order well-taken?
The Republican leader is recognized.

Quorum Call

Mr. McCONNELL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll, and the following
Senators entered the Chamber and answered to their names:

[Quorum No. 5]

Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blackburn
Blumenthal
Booker
Boozman
Braun
Britt
Budd
Butler
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Casey
Cassidy
Collins
Coons
Cortez Masto
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Duckworth
Durbin
Ernst
Fischer
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Hoeven
Johnson
Kaine
Kennedy
Klobuchar
Lankford
Lee
Lujan
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Paul
Peters
Ricketts
Romney
Rosen
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Schatz
Schmitt
Schumer
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shaheen
Smith
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Vance
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wicker
Young
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. A quorum is present.
The Senate is considering the point of order presented by the
majority leader.
The Senator from Texas.

Motion for Closed Session

Mr. CRUZ. Madam President, I rise to make a motion. The majority
leader has argued that Secretary Mayorkas's defiance of Federal
immigration law, an act in aiding and abetting of the worst criminal
invasion in our Nation's history, does not constitute a high crime or
misdemeanor.
He has presented no argument on that question. He has presented no
briefing on that question. And the position is directly contrary to the
Constitution, to the original understanding of the Constitution at the
time it was ratified, and to the explicit position of the Biden
Department of Justice as argued before the Supreme Court of the United
States.
The majority leader's position is asking Members of the Senate to
vote on political expediency to avoid listening to arguments. The only
rational way to resolve this question is actually to debate it, to
consider the Constitution, and consider the law.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will recognize that the Senate
is in a nondebatable position. The Senator has a right to offer his
motion, but we are in a nondebatable position.
Mr. CRUZ. And my motion is to change that so that we can actually
debate the law, as Senators care what the Constitution and law says.
I therefore move that the Senate proceed to closed session to allow
for deliberation on the question as required by impeachment rule XXIV.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, in our previous consent request, we
gave your side a chance for debate in public, where it should be, and
your side objected. We are moving forward.

Vote on Motion

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
Mr. CRUZ. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 129 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

[[Page S2804]]

Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending order is the motion made by
the majority leader on a point of order.
The Senator from Louisiana.

Motion to Adjourn

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I have a motion. I think my motion
takes precedent.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senator offer his motion, please.
Mr. KENNEDY. Having heard Senator Schumer's serious allegations--
which, in my judgment, are specious--about the constitutionality of
these impeachment proceedings, we find ourselves in the awkward
position, because we are in impeachment proceedings, of being unable to
discuss in public the merits of Senator Schumer's claim, and at the
same time, my Democratic friends have refused to go into closed session
so we can discuss it.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Will the Senator----
Mr. KENNEDY. For that reason, I move we adjourn this Court of
Impeachment immediately until 12 o'clock noon on Tuesday, April 30, and
I ask for the yeas and nays.

Vote on Motion to Adjourn

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion to adjourn?
Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 130 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Motion to Table

Mr. McCONNELL. The Senate just swore an oath to do impartial justice
according to the Constitution and the laws of our country. We swore to
discharge a duty that is quite different from our normal work. As a
Court of Impeachment, we are called not to speak, not to debate, but to
listen both to the case against the accused and to his defense.
At this point in any trial in the country, the prosecution presents
the evidence of the case, counsel for the defense does the same, and
the jury remains silent as it listens. This is what our rules require
of us as well.
But the Senate has not had the opportunity to perform this duty. The
Senate will not hear the House managers present the details of their
case against Secretary Mayorkas; that he willingly neglected the duties
of his office and that he lied to Congress about the extent of that
failure. Likewise, we will not hear the Secretary's representatives
present the vigorous defense to which he is entitled.
Our colleagues know that we are obligated to take these proceedings
seriously. This is what our oath prescribes; it is what the history and
precedent require; and I would urge each of our colleagues to consider
that this is what the Framers actually envisioned.
The power of impeachment is one of the most delicate balances our
constitutional system strikes with a portion of the American people's
sovereign electoral authority. It purchases a safeguard against
malpractice, and it gives the Senate the power and the duty to decide.
This process must not be abused. It must not be short-circuited.
History will not judge this moment well.

Vote on Motion

Therefore, I move to table the point of order and ask for the yeas
and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion.
Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior legislative clerk called the roll.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 131 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Vote on Schumer Constitutional Point of Order Against Article I

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The motion before the Senate is a point of
order.
The question is on agreeing if the point of order is well-taken.
Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 51, nays 48, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 132 Imp.]

YEAS--51

NAYS--48

ANSWERED ``PRESENT''--1

Murkowski

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays
are 48, 1 Senator responding present.
The point of order is well-taken, and the article falls.
The majority leader is recognized.

Point of Order

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I raise a point of order that
impeachment article II does not allege conduct that rises to the level
of a high crime

[[Page S2805]]

or misdemeanor as required under article II, section 4 of the U.S.
Constitution, and it is, therefore, unconstitutional.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under the precedents and practices of the
Senate, the Chair has no power or authority to pass on such a point of
order. The Chair, therefore, under the precedents of the Senate,
submits the question to the Senate.
Is the point of order well-taken?
The Senator from Utah.
Mr. LEE. Madam President, as wrong as the majority leader was moments
ago in making this particular point of order as to article I, the
impeachment article--article I, remember, refers to the willful
defiance by Secretary Mayorkas of the law. As wrong as he was in making
that as to article I--and he was very wrong for the reasons articulated
moments ago by the Senator from Texas--he is even more wrong, far more
so, with respect to article II, because article II accuses him of
knowingly making false statements. This is a violation of 18 U.S.C.,
section 1001--a felony offense.
If this is not a high crime and misdemeanor, what is? If this is not
impeachable, what is? What precedent will be set? We need to address
this, and to discuss it, we need to discuss it in closed session.

Motion For Closed Session

For that reason, Madam President, I move that the Senate proceed to
closed session to allow for the deliberation on this very consequential
point of order that he has just made that violates hundreds of years of
Anglo-American legal precedent and understanding on the question
required by impeachment, rule XXIV, and I call for the yeas and nays.

Vote on Motion

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 133 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Motion to Adjourn

Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Madam President, as jurors, we have not had the
time to review whether this point of order is contrary to the
Constitution. Therefore, I move to adjourn the Court of Impeachment
until 12 noon on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, and I ask for the yeas and
nays.

Vote on Motion

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the motion.
Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 134 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Manchin
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
The motion was rejected.
Mr. WICKER. Madam President, a parliamentary inquiry.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will state his parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. WICKER. I appreciate that my friend from New York is eager to get
this done with, but are we about to set a precedent that the allegation
of a felony is not a high crime and misdemeanor?
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. That is not an appropriate parliamentary
inquiry.
Mr. WICKER. Madam President, there are other ways for the majority to
move this off the floor of the Senate, but I would urge my colleagues
to--
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Does the Senator have a motion that he
wishes to make?
Mr. WICKER.--understand what we are doing.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on the point of order
raised by the majority leader.
The Senator from Louisiana.

Motion to Adjourn

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I have a motion, and it takes
precedence.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. State your motion.
Mr. KENNEDY. As I appreciate the majority leader's allegation, lying
to the United States Congress is not a high crime and misdemeanor. You
don't have to be Mensa material to know that it is not always----
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will state his motion.
Mr. KENNEDY.--a high crime and misdemeanor; it is a felony.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Would the Senator please state his motion.
Mr. KENNEDY. I will.
Since we are not allowed to talk among ourselves about the absurdity
of this and my Democratic colleagues will not allow us to go into
closed session to talk about the absurdity of this----
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate is in a nondebatable----
Mr. KENNEDY.--I move that we adjourn until 12 noon on May 1, 2004,
and I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
Will the Senator modify his motion? I would ask the Senator to modify
his motion.
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, 2004 would probably be preferable, but
I will accept a friendly amendment that we make it 2024.
(Chorus of Hear! Hear!)

Vote on Motion

[Rollcall Vote No. 135 Imp.]

YEAS--49

[[Page S2806]]

NAYS--51

Motion to Adjourn

Mr. MARSHALL. Madam President, I have a motion, and it takes
precedence.
Before this body disrespects the Constitution any further, before we
endanger our Republic any more, before we harm the reputation of this
body any more, I move to adjourn until 7 a.m. on November 6, 2024, so
the American people can at least have a vote on this impeachment trial.

Vote on Motion

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
Mr. MARSHALL. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 136 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, we seem to be in unprecedented
territory here. So I have a parliamentary inquiry.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. State your inquiry, please.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Madam President, has there been a successfully invoked
point of order to dispose of an Article of Impeachment prior to opening
arguments by the House managers?
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Chair is not aware of any such
occurrence.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Thank you, Madam President.
Unprecedented territory.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending business is the point of order
raised by the majority leader.
The Senator from Louisiana.
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, I have a motion, and it takes
precedence.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. State your motion, please.

Executive Session--Motion to Proceed

Mr. KENNEDY. Madam President, before we establish a precedent that
lying to the U.S. Congress is not a felony----
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Louisiana will state his
motion.
Mr. KENNEDY. And before we add a new chapter to the movie ``Pulp
Fiction,'' I move that we go into executive session to at least allow
us to talk about the breathtaking precedent we are about to establish
here.
Could you turn me back on here?
And I ask for the yeas and nays.

Vote on Motion

The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the motion
to proceed to executive session.
The yeas and nays have been requested.
Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 137 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

Baldwin
Bennet
Blumenthal
Booker
Brown
Butler
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Coons
Cortez Masto
Duckworth
Durbin
Fetterman
Gillibrand
Hassan
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lujan
Manchin
Markey
Menendez
Merkley
Murphy
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Reed
Rosen
Sanders
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Van Hollen
Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
The motion was rejected.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending motion is the point of order
raised by the majority leader.
The Republican whip.
Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I think it goes without saying that the
Mayorkas-Biden policies have led to the worst border crisis in American
history: 7.6 million people apprehended; 1.8 million ``got-aways''; who
knows how many unknown ``got-aways''----
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is reminded that we are
in a nondebatable position in the Senate.
Mr. THUNE. The one thing we know is that 357 people who are on the
Terrorist Watchlist were apprehended coming into this country.

Motion to Table the Schumer Point of Order

We have a responsibility to hear these Articles of Impeachment, and
therefore I move to table the Schumer point of order.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question is on agreeing to the
motion.
Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 49, nays 51, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 138 Imp.]

YEAS--49

NAYS--51

[[Page S2807]]

Warner
Warnock
Warren
Welch
Whitehouse
Wyden
The motion was rejected.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The pending business is the point
of order offered by the Senate majority leader.

Parliamentary Inquiry

Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, parliamentary inquiry.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator will state his inquiry.
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I inquire whether the actions we take
today are creating a precedent on impeachments that would apply to all
future impeachment actions in the Senate, including an impeachment of
the President of the United States.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Impeachment precedents would apply
in future impeachment hearings.

Vote on Schumer Point of Order

The question is on the point of order.
Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second?
There is a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk called the roll.
The result was announced--yeas 51, nays 49, as follows:

[Rollcall Vote No. 139 Imp.]

YEAS--51

NAYS--49

Barrasso
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Britt
Budd
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Paul
Ricketts
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Vance
Wicker
Young
The motion was agreed to.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays
are 49.
The point of order is well-taken; article II falls.
The majority leader is recognized.

Motion to Adjourn the Court of Impeachment Sine Die

Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, I move to adjourn the impeachment trial
of Alejandro N. Mayorkas sine die, and I ask for the yeas and nays.

Vote on Motion

[Rollcall Vote No. 140 Imp.]

YEAS--51

NAYS--49

Barrasso
Blackburn
Boozman
Braun
Britt
Budd
Capito
Cassidy
Collins
Cornyn
Cotton
Cramer
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Fischer
Graham
Grassley
Hagerty
Hawley
Hoeven
Hyde-Smith
Johnson
Kennedy
Lankford
Lee
Lummis
Marshall
McConnell
Moran
Mullin
Murkowski
Paul
Ricketts
Risch
Romney
Rounds
Rubio
Schmitt
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Sullivan
Thune
Tillis
Tuberville
Vance
Wicker
Young
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. On this vote, the yeas are 51, the nays
are 49.
The motion is agreed to.

____________________