WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Wednesday dismissed two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
The Democrat-controlled chamber voted, 51-49 along party lines, to adjourn the impeachment trial after finding that the impeachment articles accusing Mayorkas of not complying with federal immigration law and breaching the public trust did not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors and were therefore unconstitutional.
“The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas fail to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on the Senate floor before a series of votes. “To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.”
The adjournment vote followed successful votes to drop the two House-passed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, as well as a series of Republican motions to adjourn the court of impeachment or enter closed session, which all failed.
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Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the only senator to break party ranks during an afternoon vote series. She voted “present” on a motion to drop the first article of impeachment.
Senators were sworn in Wednesday as jurors after House Republican impeachment managers delivered the two articles of impeachment the day before, starting the proceedings. House Republicans voted to impeach Mayorkas, on their second try, in February.
Republicans have demanded a trial, while Senate Democrats indicated they planned to either dismiss the articles or table the trial because they argued the charges against Mayorkas did not reach the constitutional threshold required of impeachment, which is “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
“To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said.
Republicans blast process
Following the vote, Republicans slammed Democrats, arguing the move to avoid a trial set a precedent.
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“They created a new precedent saying you don’t even have to vote on the articles (of impeachment),” Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri told reporters off the Senate floor.
Missouri Republican Eric Schmitt warned that voters would remember the Senate’s decision in the November elections.
“They see what a disaster the border’s been,” he said to reporters.
Congressional Democrats and the White House have criticized Republicans’ efforts to impeach Mayorkas as political and campaign fodder for the November elections. Congressional Republicans and the Biden administration have clashed over immigration policy for years.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell argued Wednesday it was senators’ constitutional duty to hold a trial.
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“It is the job of this body to consider the articles of impeachment brought before us and to render judgment,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor.
Even if a trial had been held, it’s unlikely that the two-thirds majority in the Senate required to remove Mayorkas could have been reached.
In an email, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said House Republicans have not provided the necessary evidence to warrant an impeachment effort.
“Secretary Mayorkas spent months helping a bipartisan group of Senators craft a tough but fair bill that would give DHS the tools necessary to meet today’s border security challenges, but the same House Republicans playing political games with this impeachment chose to block that bipartisan compromise,” the spokesperson said.
“Congressional Republicans should stop wasting time with unfounded attacks, and instead do their job by passing bipartisan legislation to properly fund the Department’s vital national security missions and finally fix our broken immigration system.”
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Amid the impeachment proceedings in the Senate, Mayorkas has been making his rounds on Capitol Hill to defend the president’s fiscal year 2025 budget for the Department of Homeland Security.
White House Spokesperson for Oversight and Investigations Ian Sams praised the Senate’s decision in a statement.
“Once and for all, the Senate has rightly voted down this baseless impeachment that even conservative legal scholars said was unconstitutional,” he said.
Several votes
Washington state Democrat Sen. Patty Murray presided over the impeachment proceedings, which included several votes Wednesday afternoon.
Schumer tried to approve by unanimous consent a structure for the trial, including debate time and the number of points of order senators could make, but Schmitt objected.
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“I will not assist Sen. Schumer in setting our Constitution ablaze,” he said.
Schumer then raised a point of order declaring that the first article of impeachment did not rise to high crimes under the constitution, leading to a series of Republican senators demanding votes on proposals to delay a vote on Schumer’s motion
Sen. Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, moved to go to closed session and debate the articles of impeachment but Schumer objected. GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah made the same motion. Senators voted on both motions and rejected them 49-51.
Sen. John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, made a motion to adjourn the court of impeachment and begin impeachment proceedings on April 30 at noon.
Kennedy’s motion failed 49-51.
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GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida made the same motion to adjourn, which also failed 49-51.
They went back to the point of order Schumer made that declared the first article of impeachment was unconstitutional. The Senate voted, 51-48, to reject the first article of impeachment on the grounds that it did not rise to the constitutional standard for impeachment, with Murkowski voting present.
Schumer made an identical point of order on the second article of impeachment.
Kennedy again filed a motion to adjourn to May 1, 2004 for impeachment proceedings. He corrected his request to 2024. It again failed 49-51.
GOP Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas then made a motion to adjourn until Nov. 6 until after the election and “before this body disrespects the Constitution.” It failed 49-51.
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Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the No. 2 Republican, moved to table Schumer’s second point of order that the second article of impeachment is unconstitutional. It failed 49-51.
Senators then approved Schumer’s second motion, 51-49.
House action
Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has been at the forefront of impeachment efforts against Mayorkas, first introducing the measure in September.
Greene is also a House impeachment manager, along with GOP Reps. Mark Green of Tennessee, Michael McCaul of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Ben Cline of Virginia, Andrew Garbarino of New York, Michael Guest of Mississippi, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Laurel Lee of Florida and August Pfluger of Texas.
Two of the impeachment managers, Biggs and Higgins, came to the Senate Wednesday to watch that chamber’s proceedings.
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The two articles of impeachment charged Mayorkas with not complying with federal immigration law and breaching the public trust.
The first article of impeachment accused Mayorkas of contributing to myriad problems, including rising profits for smuggling operations, a high backlog of asylum cases in immigration courts, fentanyl-related deaths and migrant children found working in dangerous jobs. Republican state legislatures have moved to roll back child labor laws in industries from the food industry to roofing.
Republicans argued that the first article of impeachment would hold Mayorkas accountable for the large number of migrants that have traveled to the southern border to claim asylum. The Biden administration is dealing with the largest number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in 20 years.
The second article of impeachment charged Mayorkas with breaching public trust by making several statements in congressional testimony that Republicans argue are false, such as Mayorkas telling lawmakers that the southern border is “secure.”
The second article also charged Mayorkas with not fulfilling his statutory duty by rolling back Trump-era policies such as terminating contracts that would have continued construction of the border wall and ending the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy that was ended after it went up to the Supreme Court.
The silver lining of inflation: Rhode Island’s tourism economy benefited from $5.6 billion in visitor spending in 2023, according to new research by a state commissioned consultant.
A presentation by international firm Tourism Economics for Rhode Island Commerce Corporation showed visitor spending grew more than twice as fast as the increase in the number of visitors in 2023. The 28.4 million people who traveled to the Ocean State in 2023 is 2.2% higher than the prior year, but their total spending on travel, food, lodging and entertainment grew 4.6% year-over-year.
That’s driven by demand growth as well as price hikes for commodities and services, according to the research.
More than one-quarter of the direct spending, 26%, stemmed from food and beverage sales. Lodging, including hotels, second houses and short-term rentals, was the second-highest expense, contributing $1.2 billion.
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Air transportation saw the biggest annual increase, up 10.2%, to $328 million in 2023. Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the quasi-public entity that manages the state’s airports, gets a share of revenue from passengers on flights, as well as fees for the airlines to land, use hangar space, and other related services.
In March 2023, Breeze Airways opened a permanent base at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport, with plans to invest $160 million and hire up to 250 employees over the next five years. Commerce awarded the Utah-based airline $2.9 million in tax credits tied to the job creation plans.
Commerce has also experimented with various destination marketing ploys, from giant, traveling stuffed quahogs to the $2.2 million “All That” ad campaign rolled out in February of this year.
“The economic activity generated from the travel sector represents a critical component of the state’s current and future growth,” Anika Kimble-Huntley, Commerce’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement. “The Commerce team will continue to work with our great partners, statewide, to support the upward trajectory of tourism and record-breaking visitation.”
Visitor count and direct spending in 2023 broke prior state records, exceeding pre-pandemic numbers. However, the number of jobs tied to the state’s tourism economy remains slightly below its 2019 peak.
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The 38,329 jobs directly tied to the tourism economy in 2023 remains about 1,000 jobs, or 2.5%, below 2019 levels. Including jobs that indirectly benefited from tourism, 2023 activity helped to sustain 86,612 jobs, while generating $935 million in state and local tax revenues, according to the research.
“Tourism plays a vital role in Rhode Island’s economy by creating jobs, supporting our local businesses, and showcasing everything that makes our state a premier destination,” Commerce Secretary Liz Tanner said in a statement. “I applaud the dedicated efforts of the tourism team at Rhode Island Commerce and all others in the industry that helped reach this accomplishment.”
Including direct spending, jobs and tax revenue, the visitor economy totaled $8.3 billion in 2023, a 4.5% increase over the prior year.
The research reflects federal labor and jobs statistics, state and local tax revenues, short-term rental information and information from market research group Longwoods International.
Brown men’s basketball coach Mike Martin speaks after a Bears win Sunday
The Bears recorded 27 assists and 15 made-threes, the most assists in at least a decade, the close out the College Hill Classic on Sunday night.
Kino Lilly Jr. and Tyonne Farrell took home some hardware as college basketball season cruised past the halfway point of its opening month.
Lilly was named the Ivy League Player of the Week and Farrell repeated as the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week. The guard from Brown and forward from the University of Rhode Island received their respective honors on Monday afternoon.
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Lilly posted three 20-point games in as many nights for the Bears at their College Hill Classic, which was played at the Pizzitola Center. He hit for 26 points in an opening Friday win over New Hampshire and collected 20 in a closing Sunday victory over Sacred Heart. Lilly was 14-for-29 from 3-point range and posted 13 assists.
Lilly set a Brown program mark in the middle game against Holy Cross, surpassing JR Hobbie as the all-time leader in 3-pointers. Hobbie connected 257 times from beyond the arc in his 115 games, a career that ran from 2013-17. Lilly is currently at 264 makes from deep through 91 career games, starting with the Bears in 2021.
Farrell recorded a first career double-double in a blowout of Franklin Pierce, totaling 10 points and 10 rebounds in the 105-73 triumph. Farrell added six assists and two steals in just 22 minutes, as the Rams pulled away in the second half. He was a plus-22 in the box score.
Farrell is the first URI freshman to win consecutive conference rookie honors since E.C. Matthews grabbed four straight in 2013-14. That string was broken by teammate Hassan Martin — both cornerstones were among the first recruiting class brought in by former coach Dan Hurley. Farrell looks to have the makings of an impact talent for the Rams, starting each of his first three career games.
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Brown will be back in action on Saturday at Canisius. URI returns sooner, hosting Lafayette in a 7 p.m. tip on Wednesday. The two teams will renew their rivalry series on Dec. 10 on the East Side.
PROVIDENCE — Motorists in the northeast have enjoyed watching prices continue to inch lower at the pump as gloomier demand forecasts grip global petroleum markets.
The average gas price in Rhode Island is down three cents from last week, averaging $2.91 per gallon. Today’s price is nine cents lower than a month ago and 44 cents lower than on the same day last year. Rhode Island’s average gas price is 16 cents lower than the national average.
“Normally, higher demand and tightening supplies would send prices climbing, but markets are more focused on the long-term global demand picture at this time,” said Jillian Young, director of public relations for AAA Northeast. “A key factor keeping prices steady has been the continued pace of strong domestic oil and gas production throughout 2024.”
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Crude oil prices ended last week down almost $5 a barrel after both OPEC+ and the International Energy Agency slashed their demand projections for 2025, citing China’s limping economy and the potential for a global gasoline production surplus of more than one million barrels a day.
Domestically, prices for petroleum commodities are lower despite last week’s data from the Energy Information Administration that showed a 555,000 barrel a day surge in domestic demand week-to-week. The increase took many market participants by surprise, and is expected to be revised lower in future reports by the agency, which is not uncommon.
Total demand for last week was a reported 9.3 million barrels a day — 434,000 barrels more than the comparable week last year and more akin to figures seen during the summer driving season. At the same time, regional inventories that supply the Northeast fell by 2.8 million barrels, sending stockpiles below last year’s levels by 1.3 million barrels.
AAA Northeast’s Nov. 18 survey of fuel prices found the current national average down a penny from last week, averaging $3.07 gallon. Today’s national average price is 12 cents cheaper than a month ago and 25 cents lower than on the same day last year.
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