Over the past month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., has featured impeachment stories targeting President Joe Biden and four senior officials, each alleging an assortment of improprieties ranging from “the intentional failure to secure our homeland” to “arming the ministry of ‘Injustice.'”
An impeachment is the presentation of formal charges against a public official by the House; a trial on these charges takes place in the Senate.
The impeachment push for the Georgia Republican and Trump loyalist comes as pressure mounts around former President Donald Trump’s legal woes. Trump – who was impeached twice by the House while president but acquitted by the Senate both times – now faces charges in a New York secret money investigation and… a federal investigation into his alleged improper retention of classified documents. Further investigations are in progress.
Here’s what we know about the five Biden officials Greene wants to remove.
President Joe Biden
Greene filed articles of impeachment against Biden on May 18, alleging he committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” in connection with his immigration policy. This is the sixth time she has filed articles of impeachment against the president, none of which have been successful.
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Greene alleges that Biden “deliberately compromised our national security” by allegedly failing to protect the southern border. She blamed Biden’s “cancellation” of Trump’s border wall expansion for illegal immigration and the fentanyl crisis.
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The White House immediately condemned Greene as “one of the most extreme members of MAGA” in Congress and his impeachment effort as a “brazen political stunt”.
MTG impeachment efforts Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to impeach Joe Biden. The White House called it a “stunt”
Alexander Mayorkas
Alejandro Mayorkas is the Secretary of Homeland Security, sworn in February 2021. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for overseeing border security, among other facets of security, which Greene claims Mayorkas has not done in his role. She filed articles of arraignment against him on May 17.
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Greene alleges that Mayorkas “aid and abetted the complete invasion of our country” and suggested that he lied under oath about the Biden administration’s border control. She cited a “record amount” of fentanyl seized at the border and criticized the Biden administration’s other immigration policies.
Merrick Garland
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland oversees the Department of Justice and is the nation’s primary federal law enforcement officer. He was sworn in in March 2021. Greene presented articles of impeachment against Garland for the second time on May 17.
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Greene says Garland oversaw the “politicization” of the Justice Department, which she says disadvantages conservatives. She further criticized Garland for overseeing the pursuit of Jan. 6 rioters – whom she called “extremely non-violent” – but not “Antifa” or Black Lives Matter protesters, whom she called “terrorists”. .
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When Greene last presented articles of impeachment against Garland, in August 2022 after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago as part of the investigation into Trump’s classified documents, she said he did not “faithfully” perform its job of defending the US Constitution. Garland had said at a press conference a few days earlier that “stalwart upholding of the rule of law is the fundamental tenet of the Department of Justice and of our democracy. Upholding the rule of law means enforcing the law. uniformly, without fear or favour”.
Christophe Wray
Christopher Wray was appointed Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation by Trump and sworn in in August 2017. During the Trump administration, he reported to former Attorney General Bill Barr, but now reports to Garland.
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Greene claims Wray helped execute the alleged militarization of the justice system, turning the FBI into Biden’s “personal police force.” Greene’s long list of accusations against Wray includes the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago, investigations into anti-abortion activists following the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the alleged “protection” of Biden’s son, Hunter.
Matthew Graves
Matthew Graves is the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, a role he assumed in November 2021. He oversaw extensive efforts to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters who swarmed the Capitol after Trump claimed he had won the elections. More than 1,000 people have been arrested in nearly all 50 states and DC since the riot.
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Greene alleges that Graves “systematically criminalizes political dissent at the behest of his White House handlers.” She refers to the Jan. 6 rioters without naming them and cites a statistic that DC federal prosecutors have refused to prosecute 67% of those arrested who would have been tried in DC Superior Court.
Will GOP impeachment efforts prevail?
Most of the articles of impeachment Greene has brought against Biden and other top officials are unlikely to see a vote in the House, let alone passage in the narrowly GOP-led chamber. The Senate, which would hold trials on the charges, is held by Democrats at a narrow margin.
But efforts to remove Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, appear to be making progress. Politico reported Wednesday that right-wing lawmakers were scrambling to secure votes to impeach the secretary.
Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Az., who also filed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas, told Politico the coalition is “getting damn close” to votes. However, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said Republicans “don’t have the votes” to push through the impeachment.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marjorie Taylor Greene tries to impeach Biden, others. Here’s why.