The Republicans are fuming over delayed plans to have Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas provide public testimony. They are now demanding written testimony instead. The heel turn was personified in a letter from House Homeland Committee Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.).
This comes after Mayorkas' office he would be unable to meet Green's testimonial demand, which came to weeks ahead of the hearing, which was originally slated to occur on Thursday, because he would be hosting a Mexican delegation to discuss immigration. Mayorkas' office requested another timeslot, but Green reportedly characterized these events as Mayorkas "declin[ing] to appear."
"Since you continue to decline to come in person, I invite you to submit written testimony for the January 18th hearing record, so that our Committee Members may hear from you directly," Green wrote in the letter.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the disagreement amounts to an urge to impeach Mayorkas by Green.
"This is just the latest example of Committee Republicans' sham process. It's abundantly clear that they are not interested in hearing from Secretary Mayorkas since it doesn't fit into their bad-faith, predetermined and unconstitutional rush to impeach him."
"Last week, the Secretary offered to testify publicly before the Committee; in the time since, the Committee failed to respond to DHS to find a mutually agreeable date," DHS spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg said in a statement.
"Instead, they provided this offer of written testimony to the media before any outreach to the Department. [Homeland Security Committee] Republicans have yet again demonstrated their preference for playing politics rather than work together to address the serious issues at the border."
What's Next?
Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Zephranie Buetow proposed the two parties try to find a different date, citing a second round of migration talks with Mexican officials in Washington next week."In keeping with the secretary's commitment to cooperate with Congressional Committees, he will make himself available to testify before the Committee," Buetow wrote.
"Consistent with the customary accommodations process, we look forward to working through the details with Committee staff and agreeing upon the date and structure of the hearing. As you can appreciate, the Secretary's schedule is quite committed with the work of the Department including hosting Mexican Cabinet Members next week to discuss border enforcement."
