Senator Shelley Moore Capito is pushing for a full impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She shared her thoughts during a recent discussion with journalists from West Virginia. The Senate now controls Mayorkas's possible impeachment.
Capito faults Mayorkas for not tightening border security, a task she deems as his duty. She cites a case in Athens, Georgia, where a nursing student named Laken Riley was killed. The accused is an undocumented immigrant. He had many run-ins with the police but was still able to stay in the country. Capito suggests this could have been avoided. She thinks the parole policy for immigrants, endorsed by President Biden, caused this issue and must be stopped.
Capito wants to move forward with the impeachment trial. Yet, she clarified that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has the final say.
She also talked about recent updates concerning Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. McConnell is set to resign from his leadership role. Capito, who has worked closely with McConnell, has high regard for him.
When the question of her taking a higher leadership role came up, Capito did not provide a definitive answer. She stated that she currently has a job to finish.
She ended by discussing the budget bill with her Senate colleagues. Despite another extension, she thinks the spending bills need to pass soon to ensure the government keeps running. She believes a government shutdown must be avoided.
However, Capito blames the Democrats, and specifically Senator Schumer, for holding up the spending bills. She notes that several bipartisan bills were passed months ago. But, she claims Schumer chose not to present most of them.