Biden ‘absolutely’ has confidence in Mayorkas in face of border surge and impeachment

President Joe Biden remains confident that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas can lead the Department of Homeland Security in the face of a historic migration crisis.

U.S. officials reported more than 300,000 border encounters in December 2023 alone, the highest in any month ever, and House Republicans announced Wednesday that they plan to hold an impeachment hearing of Mayorkas on Jan. 10 relating to DHS’s handling of the southern border.

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A spokesperson for the House Homeland Security Committee told the Washington Examiner that the proceedings “will ensure that the public is aware of the scope of Secretary Mayorkas’s egregious misconduct and refusal to enforce the law.”

However, when asked about the effort to impeach Mayorkas during Wednesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden “absolutely” still has confidence in Mayorkas.

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“I kind of addressed this at the top of how baseless it is and how they’re wasting their time on impeachment proceedings that make no sense,” Jean-Pierre continued. “That’s not what the American people want them to focus on, and that certainly — we see that from House Republicans, obviously — and it’s a political stunt. It’s purely baseless.”

“They’re not doing their job,” she continued, suggesting that Republicans should focus on meeting the January deadline to pass legislation keeping the government operational. “They’re focusing on something that Americans do not want to see. They want us to deliver on things that matter to them.”

Immigration looks to have an increasing impact on Biden’s 2024 reelection chances.

The White House is currently negotiating potential immigration policy reforms with a bipartisan group of senators, negotiations that have angered immigration activists who supported Biden in 2020, yet House Republicans continue to press the president to use executive action to secure the border.

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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) led a group of more than 60 Republicans to the border on Wednesday.

You can watch Wednesday’s briefing in full below.