Alejandro Mayorkas’ behavior is wearing thin with House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, who warned Tuesday that the Homeland Security secretary’s stonewalling of basic questions shows “contempt” for Congress.
Two weeks ago, Mr. Mayorkas made a surreal appearance before the committee by ducking Republican lawmakers’ questions about terrorism suspects at the border, illegal immigrants accused of killing American citizens and other concerns.
The lack of answers was all the more galling to Republicans because they had given Mr. Mayorkas a heads-up about exactly what they would be asking at the hearing and pleaded with him to come with answers. They have been posing some of the questions since the border descended into chaos in 2021.
“Your knowing refusal to have answers to the Committee’s questions shows your contempt for the constitutional oversight process and your disrespect for the American people we serve,” Mr. Jordan and Rep. Tom McClintock, chairman of the immigration subcommittee, wrote to Mr. Mayorkas.
Republicans are pondering punishments for Mr. Mayorkas. Options include trying to reduce funding for his staff, holding him in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide answers or moving to impeach him.
The Washington Times has reached out to the Homeland Security Department for this report.
Mr. Mayorkas’ testimony at the July 26 hearing aggravated Republicans’ dissatisfaction with the secretary.
“You’re not answering any Republican questions. Is it something that you intend, to not respond to any questions from Republicans?” said Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana. “You haven’t shared anything useful here.”
She told him, “You sit in here, looking at us with this very smiley face, it’s unacceptable.”
Mr. Mayorkas did respond to that challenge. “Let me allow the record to reflect — I’m not smiling, nor have I smiled,” the secretary said.
Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, would oversee impeachment proceedings as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He has said he considers all options for handling Mr. Mayorkas to be open.
The seven-page letter, while using the word “contempt” to describe Mr. Mayorkas, didn’t go deeper into the chairman’s current thinking, but it did make clear the levels of frustration.
“Despite our repeated attempts to ensure that your testimony would be informative and beneficial, you appeared before the Committee unprepared and unable or unwilling to provide the specific data we requested,” wrote Mr. Jordan and Mr. McClintock, California Republican. “The American people deserve better.”
The Republicans said they have been asking since April 28, 2022, about how the department has handled the record number of illegal immigrants caught sneaking across the southern border whose identities trigger hits in the terrorist watchlist.
Mr. Mayorkas said last month that the immigrants are “detained” and are a “priority” for deportation, but he has not provided data showing actual outcomes. In June, an assistant secretary promised the committee a timeline for turning over the data, yet even that has not been submitted, the Republicans’ letter said.
Pressed by lawmakers over how many illegal immigrants caught and released under the Biden administration have been apprehended and deported, Mr. Mayorkas demurred.
“The data that you wish to have, we will provide to you as promptly as possible. What I don’t want to do is misspeak when it comes to data,” he said.
The Republicans said the secretary has yet to follow through on that commitment.
Mr. Jordan tried to pin down Mr. Mayorkas at the end of last month’s hearing. He said he had been taking notes on the things the secretary was unable to answer but for which he promised answers.
In addition to the terrorism and catch-and-release questions, they included queries on what has happened to smugglers whom the department says it has arrested, what legal authority Mr. Mayorkas is using to “parole” unauthorized immigrants into the U.S., and a request for the immigration file of an illegal immigrant charged with assaulting a teenage girl in Alabama.
“Despite this request letter — and repeated attempts by the Committee to receive information about the alien — you stated you were surprised to learn of the horrific crime occurring in Rep. [Barry] Moore’s district. Now that you have been reminded of this crime, we ask that you provide the Committee with the information first requested more than two months ago,” Mr. Jordan and Mr. McClintock said.
During the hearing, Mr. Mayorkas also was unable to reveal the status of a misinformation panel at his department’s cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.
“I’m kind of shocked that you don’t know the answer to that,” Rep. Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, told him.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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