House conservatives want impeachments to be a key part of what they focus on next year. However, Senate Republicans, who would be called to be on the jury of any impeachment trial, do not seem to share this position.
For most House GOP leaders, the pressure to impeach comes from their Donald Trump-aligned base, and as such impeaching both Trump and other members of the administration appears as a priority. However, this does not mean that Republican senators want to try for impeachment. In fact, some in the upper chamber have noted that even impeachments that manage to pass through the House will most likely be blocked in the Senate, and that is not just because of the current Democratic majority.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a close ally of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, has said that he had not yet really considered the possibility of impeaching Biden or a Cabinet official like Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. However, McCarthy had last month claimed that Mayorkas would need to either resign or have to face impeachment. When Corbyn was asked about this, he confirmed that so far he had not seen any punishable offense that would warrant impeachment.
Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, the only GOP senator to twice convict former President Trump, has also said that in order for a valid impeachment trial to take place, there would need to be a high crime that has already been committed. So far that has not been the case, which means that while he may disagree with some things, these things don’t warrant impeachment.
