House Republicans on Wednesday formally launched their impeachment push against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, arguing he has violated his oath of office by not securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

The House Homeland Security Committee held its first impeachment hearing against Mayorkas, who was not in attendance or represented by an attorney.

“I wish we weren’t sitting here today,” said Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., the committee’s chair. “I wish these proceedings were not necessary. I wish our southwest border was secure. I wish that our government was enforcing the laws passed by the Congress and doing its job to keep the American people safe. Unfortunately, Secretary Mayorkas has done none of these things.”

The committee launched an investigation into Mayorkas in June. Green said the findings of the inquiry, Mayorkas’ refusal to change his policies and the conditions at the border “have left us with no reasonable alternative than to pursue the possibility of impeachment.”

Committee Republicans and three of the witnesses called to testify — all Republican state attorneys general — criticized Mayorkas’ policies, blaming him for 8 million encounters between law enforcement and migrants at the nation’s borders since 2021, at least 1.8 million more migrants who evaded authorities, the smuggling of deadly fentanyl into the country, financial burdens on communities to address an influx of migrants and other issues. 

Republicans also argued Mayorkas committed impeachable offenses by ignoring laws related to paroling and detaining migrants and the construction of the border wall, among others.

“On this committee, we’ve carried out our investigation on Secretary Mayorkas,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La. “I sit here today to tell you we’re going to impeach him. He’s going to be impeached. And he should be.

”Secretary Mayorkas has brought generational trauma upon our country,” Higgins said, adding: “We’re losing our country down there.”

Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, the panel’s top Democrat, accused Republicans of launching a politically motivated impeachment inquiry during an election year.

“This is not a legitimate impeachment,” he said. “Republicans want to throw political red meat to their base and keep that campaign cash coming.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, contended that the inquiry is not “constitutionally grounded.”

“We must end this political stunt that seeks to impeach an officer of the United States because an extremist minority of the House of Representatives does not agree with the policies of this president,” she said.

Thompson, who also criticized Republicans for opposing Biden’s request for additional funding for border security, challenged Green on whether the committee’s rules gave it the authority to conduct impeachment proceedings. Green noted the full House had referred an impeachment resolution against Mayorkas to the panel in November, adding: “That trumps the rules.”

The Mississippi congressman pressed Green for the rule or precedent that supported his claim. Green did not answer the question directly, citing a parliamentary technicality in the way Thompson asked the question.

Thompson also failed to get a straight answer out of Green about whether Mayorkas will be allowed to have an attorney represent him during impeachment proceedings. Green repeatedly told Thompson, “The committee will follow the rules of the House,” but did not elaborate.

Frank Bowman, a professor emeritus at University of Missouri Law School, said he has seen nothing to suggest Mayorkas has committed the kinds of acts the extraordinary act of impeachment was designed for, such as corruption, abuse of power or treason. 

“If members of this committee disapprove of the Biden administration’s immigration and border policies, the Constitution gives this Congress a wealth of legislative powers to change them,” he said. “Impeachment is not one of those powers.”

A majority vote in the House is needed to impeach Mayorkas. Two-thirds of the Democratic-led Senate would need to convict him in order to remove him from office.

The only Cabinet official ever to be impeached was Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 over corruption allegations. The Senate acquitted him.

The three attorneys general — Missouri’s Andrew Bailey, Montana’s Austin Knudsen and Oklahoma’s Gentner Drummond — agreed that Mayorkas has failed to enforce laws passed by Congress and defied federal court orders and that the House is within its rights to conduct impeachment proceedings.

“In the last three years of Secretary Mayorkas’ reign, there has been an orchestrated lack of enforcement of our nation’s immigration laws,” Bailey said. “He has failed to do that which is most fundamental to his mission — protect our border.”

The Department of Homeland Security emailed reporters before the hearings calling House Republicans’ allegations against Mayorkas “baseless and pointless.”

“Secretary Mayorkas is a dedicated public servant who has spent decades, both as a federal prosecutor and at DHS, working to keep his fellow Americans safe,” the email said. “Under his leadership, the Department is enforcing our laws, protecting against terrorism, responding to natural disasters and modernizing to meet the threats of tomorrow. 

“This unprecedented process, led by extremists, is harmful to the Department and its workforce and undercuts vital work across countless national security priorities,” it continued. ‘Unlike like those pursuing photo ops and politics, Secretary Mayorkas is working relentlessly to fix the problem by working with Republican and Democratic Senators to find common ground and real solutions.”