Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has warned congressional Republicans that a push to remove him from office would be unsuccessful.
While speaking to CNN interviewer Chris Wallace last week, Mayorkas said that he takes threats of impeachment and removal "seriously."
Nevertheless, Mayorkas also declared that Republicans would "not force me out."
"I take them seriously. It is the leadership of the House that provided those remarks," Mayorkas said of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who called for his resignation or a probe into his time leading the DHS back in November.
"I don't dismiss it by any measure. But what I do is — I focus on my work," said Mayorkas, an appointee of President Joe Biden, while adding that he "intend[s] to appear" before Congress, if asked to.
Mayorkas also maintained that he does not believe potential impeachment proceedings would be founded on his wrongdoing. Instead, he characterized it as a "disagreement over policy" being "used for political purposes."
His comments follow articles of impeachment brought up by Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, amid claims that Mayorkas has failed to faithfully uphold his oath of office.
Fallon previously voiced impatience with McCarthy's proposal of initially investigating the secretary, when speaking to the Washington Examiner in January.
"We really can't fix the current problem and ... the future without addressing the past," Fallon argued. "It gives me no joy to do it ... but what we saw unfold on the border over the last two years — a crisis then turned into a catastrophe, and now it's near collapse."
Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security revealed to Fox News that it hired a private law firm to work with Mayorkas, as House Republicans inch toward impeachment.
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