House Republicans’ quest to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas threatens to dishearten the workforce and strain leadership at an agency perennially caught in political crosshairs.
The campaign against the secretary, whose efforts to bolster morale have earned him the moniker “Santo Mayorkas” among many workers, is distracting and potentially disruptive inside the agency, current and former Department of Homeland Security officials warn.
“If your job every day of literally protecting the nation was a political football and a political punching bag, you can see how that would be demoralizing,” said Jason Houser, a senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection official during Democratic administrations.
The position isn’t universal among DHS employees — at least a subset of workers who’ve clashed with Mayorkas support the bid to hold him accountable. But the concerns about collateral damage add to mounting skepticism of the GOP’s high-speed effort to clinch the first impeachment of a Cabinet secretary in almost 150 years.
Republicans blame Mayorkas for record-high migrant apprehensions at the US-Mexico border and accuse him of violating his duty to enforce federal immigration laws. The Homeland Security Committee launched impeachment proceedings two weeks ago and will wrap up its work this month, setting up a historic vote on the House floor.
Many agency insiders and veterans are miffed. The focus on Mayorkas feels misplaced amid more pressing needs for Congress to pass an annual budget for the agency or address numerous other department requirements, said one 20-year DHS employee who was granted anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
“Politicians are not looking at DHS as the importance of its mission,” George W. Bush-era Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said. “They’re looking at it as an agency that can be used as a target.”
As House Republicans push to impeach him, Mayorkas is seeking to cut a bipartisan deal in the Senate to overhaul border and asylum laws.
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Fans and Foes
Mayorkas is a familiar face to DHS’s 260,000-person workforce, having served as deputy secretary and head of US Citizenship and Immigration Services during President Barack Obama’s administration before President Joe Biden tapped him as secretary in 2021.
He’s endeared himself to many workers throughout those assignments with his emphasis on improving the department’s notoriously low morale, said a political appointee granted anonymity to discuss the secretary’s reputation.
Perhaps most appreciated by the rank and file are his liberal grants of extra time off for DHS employees, often around holidays, the appointee said. Federal employees jokingly call him Santa or Santo Mayorkas, with “Patron Saint of Administrative Leave” prayer candles available on eBay and Reddit threads extolling his virtues, though some say he’s trying to buy worker affection.
Mayorkas has also increased workforce recognition events across the country and advocated for Transportation Security Administration pay raises, former adviser Marsha Espinosa said. Engagement and satisfaction scores have ticked up under his tenure.
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Many in the workforce feel sorry for Mayorkas amid the impeachment effort and see him as a fall guy for Biden’s policies, said a different longtime DHS worker without authorization to speak publicly. Career employees are focused on their homeland security mission, but impeaching their top boss nevertheless serves as a distraction, the person said.
To be sure, not everyone is a fan. Mayorkas’ biggest critics include many of his employees working along the US-Mexico border during spikes in crossings that have strained resources and often forced agents to spend their time processing and caring for migrants.
“There are Border Patrol agents right now that are very happy that we’re doing this,” Homeland Security Chairman
“I haven’t talked to CISA or FEMA,” he added, referring to DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. “But the Border Patrol guys are with us.”
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The National Border Patrol Council, an employee union whose leadership is known for its sharp criticism of Biden and Mayorkas, backed up that claim.
“It’s going to bring out the truth of what’s going on at the border,” council president and Border Patrol agent Brandon Judd said. “We believe that these impeachment proceedings are important.”
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‘Not a New Experience’
DHS and its allies argue that the attacks on Mayorkas carry over to the department’s workers.
“It is to some degree insulting to the workforce, particularly those who work in Customs and Border Protection,” Chertoff said, citing unfounded GOP claims that Mayorkas has directed his agency to deliberately sabotage border security. “Everybody who’s working knows that that’s the opposite of the truth.”
Mayorkas, typically unruffled in tense congressional hearings, has gotten heated about the issue. In a November hearing, he slammed Rep.
“I am accused of all sorts of things in these hearings, and I can take it,” Mayorkas said. “What I will not accept” are comments impugning the agents on the ground.
Green and Brecheen accused Mayorkas of deflecting. “Our criticism’s not the men and women of DHS, Mr. Secretary,” Green said. “Our criticisms are your policies.”
The department has been a lightning rod for political controversy since its creation after the Sept. 11 attacks, and most current employees know the drill, said Stewart Baker, a senior official during the Bush administration.
“It doesn’t feel great to be a political football,” he said, “but it’s not a new experience for DHS.”
Political firestorms can affect worker morale, but it’s up to leaders like Mayorkas to try to insulate them and keep their focus on the department’s mission, said Tina Won Sherman, a director on the Government Accountability Office’s homeland security and justice team.
One senior official at DHS who’s served at high levels in Democratic and Republican administrations credited the secretary with doing just that. Mayorkas has signaled to staff that he won’t be distracted from the agency’s mission and avoids even using the word “impeachment” in meetings, said the senior official, who spoke anonymously to discuss internal dynamics.
The secretary’s navigation of complex, high-stakes Senate border negotiations amid the House GOP attacks is a testament to his ability to compartmentalize and keep departmental work on track, said another senior DHS official, who also spoke anonymously to discuss internal dynamics.
Still, homeland security professionals have concerns about impeachment’s long-term impacts on the department. The hearings and headlines further politicize the agency, undermine recruitment, and drive away prospective leaders, said the 20-year DHS career employee who was granted anonymity because he wasn’t authorized to speak to the media.
A group of former DHS officials from Republican and Democratic administrations last week echoed that sentiment in a letter urging House Republicans to back off the impeachment effort and arguing it would worsen the agency’s existing challenge in attracting senior officials.
“None of this sits well for people that are saying, ‘I’m a professional, I’ve been in the business for a long time, and I want to make a difference,’” said Obama-era CBP Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske, who signed the letter.
“Realizing that every decision is second-guessed on Capitol Hill,” he added, “it’s ugly and it’s tough on a lot of people.”
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