Live updates: Senate kills articles of impeachment against Alejandro ...
By CNN's Capitol Hill team, Maureen Chowdhury, Aditi Sangal and Elise Hammond
Updated
5:12 p.m. ET, April 17, 2024
From CNN's Morgan Rimmer
GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham almost sided with the Democrats on the vote to kill the second article of impeachment — before he caught himself, to laughs in the chamber.
His GOP colleagues jokingly pointed to Booker, asking if he had made Graham change his mind. Booker put his hands up, laughing and proclaiming his innocence.
From CNN's Manu Raju and Lauren Fox
In the House, lawmakers will consider several separate bills that include aid for Israel and Ukraine this weekend.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on four bills on Saturday — aid for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and a forthcoming bill that includes a potential ban on TikTok. But, the final product is expected to be lumped together as one big package that will be sent to the Senate, according to sources familiar.
The House can do this through an arcane procedure, something that is enraging the right wing of the party but is what Democrats have been insisting on as a condition of their support.
The border security bill Speaker Mike Johnson released is not expected to be part of that big bill, further angering the right, and will be considered separately, the sources said.
The three-part supplemental aid package — which all together adds up to about $95 billion in aid — looks strikingly similar to a bill that previously passed the Senate but that Johnson refused to bring to the floor. The new House package includes a little more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid for Gaza and other conflict zones around the world, which had been a red line for Democrats.
Biden said in a statement Wednesday that he "strongly supports" the package of bills, his first explicit endorsement of Johnson's plan.
From CNN staff
Here's what lawmakers on Capitol Hill are saying after the Democratic-controlled Senate voted to kill both articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
House GOP leadership: House Speaker Mike Johnson, Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and Chairwoman Elise Stefanik said that Democrats have "issued their full endorsement of the Biden Administration’s dangerous open border policies" through this vote. "Secretary Mayorkas alongside President Biden has used nearly every tool at his disposal to engineer the greatest humanitarian and national security catastrophe at our borders in American history," the statement said.
Vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester: "Montanans want real solutions that secure the border, not partisan games from D.C. politicians," he said. "It’s time for President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas to use their remaining executive authorities to help secure our border, and for Congress to pass bipartisan border security legislation to give law enforcement the resources and policy changes they have said they need to get the job done.”
Sen. Steve Daines: The chair of the Senate Republicans’ campaign arm warned that the GOP will use vulnerable Senate Democrats’ votes in the impeachment trial against them.“I don’t think this is the last time that voters in these key states have heard about this,” Daines told CNN.
CNN's Haley Talbot and Morgan Rimmer contributed to the report
From CNN's Annie Grayer
The Department of Homeland Security praised the Senate move to end the impeachment of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday.
Spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg called the impeachment articles against the secretary "baseless attacks."
The White House also applauded the conclusion of what it called a "baseless impeachment."
Ian Sams, the White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, said President Joe Biden and Mayorkas will "continue doing their jobs to keep America safe and pursue action solutions at the border."
He was the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in almost 150 years. House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February over his handling of the southern border by a narrow margin after failing to do so on their first try.
This post has been updated with the reaction from the White House.
The Senate voted to end Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas' impeachment trial on a party-line vote of 51-49.
How we got here: House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas in February over his handling of the southern border by a narrow margin after failing on the first try. He became the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached in nearly 150 years.
From CNN's Ted Barrett
The Senate voted to kill the second and final article of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Lawmakers voted 51 to 49 on party lines. The chamber voted to kill the first article of impeachment earlier today.
The Senate is voting now to adjourn to end the impeachment trial.
From CNN's Ted Barrett
The Senate is voting now on a motion by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to kill the second article of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
From CNN's Ted Barrett
The Senate is now voting on a motion to table or kill an earlier point of order proposed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that would kill the second article of impeachment against Alejandro Mayorkas.
The move to get rid of Schumer's motion was proposed by GOP Sen. John Thune.
Before this, a motion to go into executive session failed. The motion was proposed by GOP Sen. John Kennedy and failed on a party-line vote 49-51
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
Department of Homeland Security lawyers are not present on the Senate floor as the vote over the impeachment articles against Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas unfolds, according to a source familiar.
It’s not unusual for the department attorneys to be absent at this stage of the process. They would have to be invited if a trial is held, according to Senate procedure.
