The House Committee on Homeland Security voted 18-15 to approve sending two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas early Wednesday morning after hours of hearings on the matter. The articles will now go to the House of Representatives floor for another vote.

The articles allege that Mayorkas failed to comply with US law and breached public trust in his handling of the US-Mexico border and immigration matters. Specifically, Article I asserts that Mayorkas engaged in a “willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law.” The articles assert that Mayorkas did not comply with his duties under the Immigration and Nationality Act, which “significantly contributed to unprecedented levels of illegal entrants, the increased control of the Southwest border by drug cartels, and the imposition of enormous costs on States and localities affected by the influx of aliens.” Additionally, Article II contends that Mayorkas committed a “breach of the public trust” by knowingly making false statements and obstructing lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security “principally to obfuscate the results of his willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law.”

In response to the vote, Committee Chairman Mark Green stated:

I am proud of the Committee for advancing these historic articles. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to do the right thing, put aside the politics, and agree that before we can fix Secretary Mayorkas’ mess, Congress must finally hold this man accountable.

Prior to the vote, Mayorkas sent a letter to Green, stating that “your false accusations do not rattle me and do not divert me from the law enforcement and broader public service mission to which I have devoted most of my career and to which I remain devoted.”

Article I of the Constitution gives the House of Representatives the “sole power of impeachment.” After articles of impeachment are brought against an official, the House can adopt the articles by a majority vote. If the articles pass the House, they are sent to the Senate for an impeachment trial to determine the official’s guilt.

These articles of impeachment against Mayorkas come at a time when tensions at the US-Mexico border are high. On Friday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a statement asserting Texas’ constitutional right to self-defense concerning the border. This statement followed a Supreme Court ruling on January 22, wherein the court sided with the Biden administration in a dispute over a barrier along the southern border.