By Scott Wong and Frank Thorp V —
NBC News
The Senate begins the
impeachment
trial this Wednesday afternoon
to the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, promoted by the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, and which is expected to be very different from those faced by then-President Donald Trump in 2020 and 2021.
Democrats, with a slim majority in the Senate and led by Chuck Schumer, are moving quickly to dismiss or postpone the two articles of
impeachment,
which would require only a simple majority vote. Republicans want to drag out the process and make it as politically painful as possible.
There is no possibility that Mayorkas will be convicted and therefore removed from his position. None of the 51 Democrats in the Senate have declared their support, and even some moderate Republicans have shown themselves open to postponing the articles after a debate, arguing that the conduct of Mayorkas (accused of failing to prevent the arrival of migrants at the border) does not go far enough the level necessary to approve his dismissal.
The president
pro tempore
of the Senate, Democrat Patty Murray, will preside over the trial. At 1 p.m. ET, she and the other 99 senators will be sworn in as impeachment jurors. Both parties were working Tuesday to reach agreement on a process that could include time for limited debate and votes on Republican-led motions. However, unlike Trump's trials, which lasted more than two weeks, Democrats could end this process as soon as Wednesday night.
“What I hope will happen is that there will be an opportunity for at least some debate once we are sworn in, and it is still to be determined how long that will last and what that will entail, but I would prefer not to go straight from being sworn in to boom! "We are going to finish it," said Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who is skeptical about the
impeachment
.
“At the very least, there has to be a process,” he added, “and if it just ends, you're not only putting Republicans in a difficult situation, you're setting the precedent that this is what we're going to do with every
impeachment
in the future.
This Tuesday, the 11
impeachment
prosecutors
in
the House crossed the Capitol to the Senate and hand-delivered the two articles, in which Mayorkas is accused of not enforcing immigration laws and of not securing the border, as well as of lying. to Congress under oath, even saying that the US border with Mexico is “secure.”
After the articles were read on the Senate floor,
prosecutors
joined Republican senators at a press conference in which they demanded a full trial and indicated that a motion to quickly dispense with the articles would be unprecedented.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee, who has led his party's push for a full trial, added that it would be "acceptable" for the Senate
refer the articles to a special
impeachment
committee . “I know many of us would prefer to have a full trial in plenary, but both options are acceptable.”