In a significant development, House Republicans have announced their intention to deliver two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on April 10. The announcement was made by Speaker Mike Johnson and the Republican House members assigned to prosecute the impeachment, who shared the update in a letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Johnson and his Republican colleagues urged Schumer to promptly schedule a trial on the matter. As per Schumer's previous commitment, the process of swearing senators in as jurors will begin the day after the articles are received in the Senate chamber. Senator Patty Murray, as the Senate President Pro Tempore, will preside over the trial.

The House passed the two impeachment articles by a narrow margin of one vote back in February, with only Republican support. This historic event makes Mayorkas the first cabinet member to be impeached since Secretary of War William Belknap during President Ulysses S. Grant's tenure in 1876. Notably, three Republicans voted alongside all Democrats against the impeachment.

However, the impeachment proceedings were temporarily stalled as lawmakers focused on negotiating must-pass spending bills and avoiding a government shutdown. Senate rules dictate that all other business must be suspended during the impeachment trial on the Senate floor, resulting in the pause of the impeachment process.

The articles of impeachment accuse Mayorkas of willful and systematic refusal to comply with the law in enforcing border policy, as well as a breach of public trust. Following their passage in the House, Schumer referred to the impeachment effort as a "sham" and stated in a press release that Republicans have been unable to demonstrate any impeachable offenses committed by the secretary.

Given the Democratically-controlled Senate, it is widely anticipated that Mayorkas will be acquitted, or the charges will be sidestepped, thus allowing him to remain in his current role. Some Republicans in the Senate have also expressed doubts about whether Mayorkas' actions meet the constitutional criteria of "high crimes and misdemeanors" necessary for impeachment.

With the delivery of the articles of impeachment to the Senate approaching, all eyes will now turn to the forthcoming trial and the subsequent decision that will shape the future of Secretary Mayorkas' tenure as head of the Department of Homeland Security.