Republican Homeland Security chair accuses Mayorkas of ‘dereliction of duty’

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, slammed Secretary of Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday, saying his “dereliction of duty” will be “closely” examined.

During an appearance on CNNs “State of the Union,” host Dana Bash asked Green if Mayorkas has committed an impeachable offense.

“I have been very careful not to say, ‘Let’s impeach Secretary Mayorkas,’ because I don’t have that authority in my committee,” Green replied.

“But what I do have is a responsibility for oversight. And we’re going to do that. We’re going to look very closely at the failures of this administration and Secretary Mayorkas,” he added.

“We’re going to look into his dereliction of duty, the laws he’s intentionally violated and not followed,” Green said. “I mean, he took an oath to the Constitution, right? And his job is to execute the laws, not write them or make them up himself.”

“We will show the human cost of this open border, fentanyl mothers, Angel Moms… Every American is at risk with this open border,” he continued. “I would be negligent in my job not to look into this guy’s performance… and show the American people how he’s failed.”

Green’s statements come in light of the expiration of Title 42 last week, a policy that allowed the expulsion of asylum seekers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.  

While lawmakers and officials braced for a surge of migrants to attempt to cross the border, Mayorkas said during a separate CNN appearance on Sunday that the number of migrant encounters at the border actually dropped by 50 percent in the days following the policy’s expiration.