Senators to be sworn in as jurors in Mayorkas impeachment trial

To debate or not debate?

That's the question facing the upper chamber Wednesday ahead of afternoon plans to swear in all 100 senators as jurors in the impeachment trial against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was expected to dispose of the charges, with either a motion to dismiss or by tabling them, but discussions continued late Tuesday for a potential bipartisan deal for debate. A deal had yet to be reached by early Wednesday.

"We want to address this issue as expeditiously as possible," Schumer said Tuesday. "Impeachment should never be used to settle a policy disagreement. Talk about awful precedents."

The trial comes roughly two months after House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas by one vote, the tightest of margins. The House impeachment managers delivered the articles to the Senate on Tuesday, triggering the next steps in a trial.

"Alejandro N. Mayorkas thus warrants impeachment and trial, removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States," the lead House impeachment manager, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green, R-Tenn., read from the resolution to the Senate chamber.

The Democratic-led Senate is not expected to convict or remove Mayorkas.

What the charges are

The House impeachment resolution includes two charges — willfully ignoring the law and breaching the public's trust.

At the center of the procedural fight is the U.S.-Mexico border and the people who have crossed it in record numbers. Republicans accuse Mayorkas of refusing to enforce immigration laws, Democrats and the Biden administration say Republicans have a policy disagreement with the White House and