mr. mayorkas. i sincerely hope that the republican members of the senate judiciary committee will allow us to set the stage for a hearing as quickly as possible for our next attorney general merrick garland. so much is at stake. the national security of the united states should be a higher priority than any partisan

mr. mayorkas's qualifications are unassailable. he is a seven-year veteran of the d.h.s. and has already been confirmed by this chamber three -- three times. like most of president biden's cabinet nominees, his nomination is also history making. he will be the first latino and first immigrant to hold the top job at d.h.s. i look forward to confirming mr. and we have a second outstanding nominee to confirm today as well. pete buttigieg for secretary of transportation. mr. buttigieg, known to many simply as mayor pete, has demonstrated an impressive familiarity with our nation's entire transportation challenges. challenges which are pronounced in states like my own where projects like the gateway tunnel are a top national priority. i know that mr. buttigieg is committed to working with members from both sides to improve rail and transit, highways, and more, in rural communities, urban centers, and everywhere in between. i'm excited to call him secretary pete by the end of the day and get to work with him immediately on helping the m.t.a., the nation's largest transit networ

mr. ashton wrote these words. i first came to know mayorkas when i was the republican staff director of this committee, the homeland security committee. at that time, i was working -- this is mr. ashton. i was working to block his nomination to serve as deputy secretary of the department of homeland security. he went on to say, with the benefit of hindsight, i am glad my efforts to block his nomination were ultimately unsuccessful. how obvious do you hear that? he went on to write, he worked in a bipartisan manner to respond to the committee's requests and concerns. he added, having been on the other side of this battle, i understand the importance of vetting a nomination thoroughly, but no one -- no one -- have been yeted more than has ali mayorkas. mr. ashton looted with these words when he said, i urge the united states senate to expeditiously confirm ali mayorkas as the department of homeland security secretary without delay, without delay. let me close by saying that it i'm grateful and i know that the mayorkas family is grateful as well,

mr. mayorkas does not deserve to be confirmed as the new secretary of the department of homeland security in part because he was, quote, giving green cards, special favors. he was giving away green cards as special favors. what more do we know about the senate minority leader's train of thinking here? >> well, i can't speak to the specifics of the green card incident but i can tell you mayorkas confirmation will be a squeaker or the most close confirmation vote of any of the byrne nominees so far because of this issue on immigration. it's not necessarily his own path on but he is an ava tar for the biden administration's immigration policies. we heard this from josh hawley when he first held up the speedy consideration of mayorkas' nomination, tom cotton. this is a way for republican senators to speak out on their views on immigration and set up the opposition to the biden administration's immigration policies. we've talked so much over the last couple weeks where the republican party goontsz, who the leadership is, what do believe, immigration is a safe fallback issue, a pre-trump era is

mr. trump's signature policies. and one of the key players in that work now will be alejandro mayorkas, the new secretary of the homeland security. he was confirmed last night and sworn in last night. this is the story on his confirmation vote yesterday in the senate. he was actually in the oval office yesterday when president biden was making those statements. usa today noting he'll become the first immigrant and latino despite opposition from republicans. it was a 56-43 vote, the closest vote so far for any of president biden's nominees. mayorkas arrived in the united states from cuba in 1960s as refugees from fidel castro's regime. he's been deputy secretary of the department of homeland security and headed its citizenship agency. we'll show you some of the debate over his confirmation that happened yesterday in the senate for that vote as we go forward this morning in this first hour of the washington journal. but the question we're asking simply is america or should it be a haven for people in need from around the world? rob out of marion, louisiana, on that question. >> caller: how are you doing today? >> what do

mayorkas to be holy and secure the secretary. live now to the floor of the u.s. senate here on c-span2. the senator from delaware. mr. carper: thank y,

mr. mayorkas. i sincerely hope that the republican members of the senate judiciary committee will allow us to set the stage for a hearing as quickly as possible for our next attorney general merrick garland. so much is at stake. the national security of the united states should be a higher priority than any partisan consideration. mr., the senator from tennessee. mrs. blackburn: thank you, mr. president. ahead of our votes today, i want to echo the concerns that have already been voiced by many of my colleagues in this chamber regarding the nomination of alejandro mayorkas to be the secretary of the department of homeland security. at this point, we're all very familiar with his long legacy of service on behalf of the people of the united states, so i will just highlight one example of value that he will bring to the table should the senate vote to confirm him. when he served as uscis director during the obama administration, the inspector general was forced to investigate, quote, an extraordinary,

mr. mayorkas did his best to turn u.s. citizenship and immigration services into an unethical favor factory for democratic party royalty. governors, a d.n.c. chair, hollywood executives, a senate majority leader from nevada, they all received special treatment to a degree that stunned and disturbed the obama administration's own inspector general over at that department. his independent report blasted the, quote, appearance of favoritism and special access. we're talking about shoving through green cards as political favors and intervening to overturn denials. the i.g. confirmed this wasn't just about speed. mr. mayorkas' improper influence actually changed outcomes. this wasn't the first time this nominee abused an office for political purposes. before his tenure at d.h.s. while a u.s. attorney, the nominee had helped his fellow california democrats get a well-connected l.a. drug kingpin onto president clinton's infamous 11-hour pardons list. the drug dealer's father was a major democratic party donor. mysteriously, sever

mr. mayorkas. i sincerely hope that the republican members of the senate judiciary committee will allow us to set the stage for a hearing as quickly as possible for our next attorney general merrick garland. so much is at stake. the national security of the united states should be a higher priority than any partisan consideration. mr., i yield the floor. -- mr. president, i yield the floor. mr. kennedy: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. kennedy: mr. president, i want to talk about two topics today. first i want to address the issue of immigration. my good friend, senator durbin, is -- is -- is very articulate and he is almost an expert on this issue, and i appreciate his comments. i want to just give you my perspective on immigration because it is so important. this is not why i came down here today, mr. president. i love legal immigration. i think most americans do. louisianans love legal immigration. and -- and i say that with great confidence because every yea

consideration of the mayorkas nomination as provided under the previous order and then recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. heinrich: for the information of all senators, the senate will vote on the confirmation of the buttigieg nomination at 12:00 noon tomorrow and on confirmation of the m mayorkas nomination at 2:0 p.m. tomorrow. if there's no further business for come before the senate, i ask that it stand adjourned under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until secretary of homeland security, that boat had been scheduled for today but postpone because of winter storms on the east coast. the senate is back in session will have live coverage on c-span2. >> former president trump became the first president to be impeached twice, last week house impeachment managers deliver the articles of impeachment against a former president on incitement to insurrection of the senate with maryland democratic representative reaching the article before the senate. >> donald john trump impeachment and trial removal from office and disqualification to hold