NASHVILLE, TENN. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined 42 Republican Senators in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) calling on the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty by holding a trial to consider the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Senators wrote, “Our brave men and women at Customs and Border Protection have worked tirelessly to make our nation safer, yet with 7.5 million encounters since President Biden took office, our southern border is a national security disaster. Encounters in fiscal year 2023 increased a startling 440% over fiscal year 2020.  The border crisis under Secretary Mayorkas has become a nightmare for the American people.”

They continued, “The House of Representatives has considered this evidence and impeached Secretary Mayorkas.  Our constitutional duty requires the Senate to hold a trial. In every previous congressional impeachment of the past 227 years, Congress has been faithful to the process set out by the framers… Never before has the Senate abandoned this duty, even when certain members believed the basis for impeachment was tenuous at best.”

• The letter was led by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and also signed by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

 View the letter here.