It’s seen by many as window dressing against a Biden administration that would be unlikely to replace the President’s pick with someone who would be inclined to bring real change to the open southern border.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen West said on American Family Radio Wednesday that the Mayorkas impeachment is important for a number of reasons.
“I don’t see it so much as a win for Republicans as I see it as a win for the Constitution and the Constitutional Republic that we live in,” West (pictured at right) told show host Jenna Ellis.
Beyond impeachment, one of the biggest questions is what impact will the border negligence have on America?
Just less than 300 terror watch list members have been detained at the border during the Biden presidency, according to Congressional testimony.
The blinking red lights of terror
Last December, FBI Director Christopher Ray told lawmakers the blinking red lights of terror threats are everywhere.
“There may have been times over the years (of his career) that individual threats could have been higher here or there than where they may be right now, but I’ve never seen a time where all the threats or so many of the threats are all elevated, all at exactly the same time,” Wray said.
EJ Antoni, the research fellow for regional economics for The Heritage Foundation, said on Washington Watch Tuesday that the economic impact of 9-11 has measured in the trillions of dollars. A similar hit while the U.S. faces a $34 trillion deficit could be devastating.
For now, House Republicans have sought accountability for at least one official they see as negligent on border security.
Mayorkas told lawmakers last spring, “The border is secure.” In July he said the U.S. was “managing (the) border securely and humanely, even with a broken immigration system.”
In October he said, “This administration believes that effective border security requires a smarter and more comprehensive approach, including state-of the-art border surveillance technology and modernized ports of entry. We need Congress to give us the funds to implement these proven tools.”
Though now the first sitting cabinet official to be impeached by the House, it’s unlikely Mayorkas will face a trial in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
That doesn’t mean the impeachment is not important, West said.
“If we allow people to go before the representatives of the American people and lie to them, which means you're lying to the American people," he said, "and not uphold your law, not uphold your enumerated constitutional duties and responsibilities, then we're complicit in their actions."
He went on to accuse the Democrats of putting politics over the border after they voted in unison against impeachment.
"They don't care about the drugs, the human and sex trafficking, the terrorist trafficking, and they don't care about the Constitution and about telling the truth to the American people," West complained.
Impeachment need not end with Mayorkas
If Biden were to replace Mayorkas with a like-minded individual, and if lies and failure in the line of duty again follow, that person should also be impeached, West said.
Impeachment need not end with the Secretary of Homeland Security.
“This is not excusing Joe Biden. He should be held accountable as well. Everyone in this administration should be held accountable for the lies they have perpetrated against us, the American people and our Constitution.
“Who knows how many terrorists are now in this country,” West said.
Those untracked terrorists are a danger to Americans, but another 9-11 type event would have lasting effects for years, Antoni told Washington Watch host Tony Perkins.
“One of the things that happened after 9-11 was that the Fed reduced interest rates to artificially low levels and they did that to spur the economy," Antoni recalled, "but then with all of the war spending they had to continue keeping rates way too low for way too long in order to finance all of those federal deficits.
“Exactly the same thing that we’ve seen the last three years that gave us 40-year high inflation, a cost of living crisis, a banking crisis, et cetera, was all done in the early 2000s, and that's what helped create the global financial crisis and the mortgage meltdown,” Antoni said.
Antoni said the U.S. is financially incapable of responding to a large-scale terrorist attack.
“We simply couldn't. Look at how large the debt has gotten, and probably more importantly, the cost of servicing that debt. It's over a trillion dollars a year. It’s over 40% of personal income taxes that it takes just to pay the interest on the debt,” he said.
Congress right now is debating a $95.3 billion foreign aid package passed this week by the Senate. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said the measure as it stands – with no border security or other amendments attached – will not pass the House.
“We don't even have enough money to loan these countries anything, let alone give it away," Antoni reasoned. "So instead, what should we be doing? We should be securing our own border so that we don't have another 19 of these terrorists come through and kill countless Americans and cost us countless dollars in the process."
House could have taken other action against Mayorkas
Impeachment is not the House’s only potential play against Mayorkas.
During the Obama administration in 2012, the House cited Attorney General Eric Holder with contempt of Congress for his refusal to turnover certain documents in its investigation of Operation Fast and Furious, a government effort to track sellers and purchasers in illegal gun transactions along the southern border.
During Fast and Furious nearly 2,000 firearms were illegally purchased for $1.5 million, according to a DOJ inspector General report.
According to CNN, two weapons linked to Fast and Furious turned up near the scene of the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in the Arizona desert.
Moving forward beyond a House citation would have required the DOJ to present the citation to a grand jury, and the DOJ refused.
“Yes, [Mayorkas] should be impeached because what you see is that the high crimes and misdemeanors are causing crimes to be committed against American people," West concluded. "American people are losing their lives, citizens are losing their lives. We're losing our loved ones. We're being attacked by these people that are here illegally."
