Republican Doodling During Mayorkas Impeachment Hearing Caught on Video

Republican Chairman Mark Green was caught doodling in his notes during the House Committee on Homeland Security's impeachment hearing on Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The GOP-led committee debated impeaching Mayorkas over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border all day Tuesday before advancing their impeachment articles against the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) early Wednesday. If House Republicans are successful, Mayorkas would be the first Cabinet official impeached in nearly 150 years.

During Tuesday's hearing, Green was seen drawing in his notepad while the panel considered removing Mayorkas from his position for "breach of trust" and "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law." It was not immediately clear what the chairman was sketching in his notes.

Newsweek reached out to Green via email for comment.

In his opening remarks, introducing the two articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, Green said, "The case we are dealing with today is that simple: Secretary Mayorkas has put his political preferences above following the law."

"If your refusal to obey the law leads to the death of your fellow citizens, you no longer deserve to keep your job, you're breaking the people's trust," he said.

The impeachment articles passed the committee along party lines, 18-15, paving the way for a vote to come to the House floor next week.

Green has previously been publicly cagey about whether he'd have enough votes since Republicans can only lose two votes given their slim majority, but the chairman was reportedly overheard expressing confidence that he could pass it through the House on Monday.

A previous attempt to impeach Mayorkas had failed last year when eight GOP lawmakers voted to refer the matter to the House Homeland Security Committee which had already been investigating the secretary. Most of those eight votes are expected to now support impeachment. However, Representatives Ken Buck and Tom McClintock are still expected to vote against it, expressing hesitation as to whether the articles that Mayorkas faces meet the high crimes and misdemeanor bar required for impeachment.

House Democrats have decried the impeachment effort. Ranking Member Bennie Thompson defended Mayorkas on Tuesday, saying during the hearing that "Mayorkas has faithfully implemented the administration's border policies—policies Republicans apparently disagree with. But policy differences are not impeachable."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters earlier this week: "House Republicans have produced no evidence that Secretary Mayorkas has broken the law. This is a political stunt and a hit job ordered by two people: Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene."

The secretary himself released a seven-page letter addressed to Green, challenging Republican arguments in the impeachment proceedings, reviewing each of the six times that Mayorkas took an oath of office and directly criticizing the Tennessee Republican for "the politically motivated accusations and personal attacks you have made against me."

"My reverence for law enforcement was instilled in me by my parents, who brought me to this country to escape the Communist takeover of Cuba and allow me the freedoms and opportunity that our democracy provides," Mayorkas, the first DHS secretary to arrive to the U.S. as a migrant, wrote. "My parents experienced such loss at the fisted hands of authoritarianism that the American law enforcement officer stood as a tangible symbol of safety and the rule of law in our new home."