House sends Mayorkas impeachment articles to Senate as clash over trial looms

House Republicans presented the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on Tuesday, kicking off a confrontation over an impeachment trial that’s been brewing for weeks.

More than two months after the lower chamber voted to impeach the Cabinet secretary, House impeachment managers walked the articles over to the Senate in a ceremonial process that triggers the start of the Senate’s role in the matter.

“The managers on the part of the House of Representatives are present and ready to present the articles of impeachment,” Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee, one of the House impeachment managers, said as he began reading the impeachment articles on the Senate floor.

The upper chamber is compelled by Senate rules to convene as a court of impeachment after the articles have been transmitted. Though the House voted to impeach Mayorkas in February in a historic vote that marked the first time a Cabinet secretary has been impeached in nearly 150 years, House leaders opted to wait until after a government funding fight to present the issue to the Senate. And although they intended to begin the process last week, Senate Republicans made a push to delay the proceedings until this week amid concerns over attendance.