Senate Democrats to dismiss Mayorkas charges, skip full impeachment trial

• Senate Democratic leadership has told lawmakers that the plan is to move to dismiss the charges against Mayorkas swiftly, three Democratic sources familiar with the conversations told Axios.
• But Schumer has not publicly said what his plans are for the impeachment trial.
• Democrats argue that the impeachment of Mayorkas is purely political, with no high crimes or misdemeanors found.

What to watch: A vote to dismiss the impeachment articles could be bipartisan.

• When asked if Republicans would be unified, GOP Senate Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) only said that he thinks "the large majority, for sure, will be very unified."
• Several Republican senators have expressed concerns about the House's impeachment effort in the past months.

The other side: Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats in 2024, said he did not know whether he would vote to dismiss, wanting to look at the documents first.

• "I'm going to do the right thing. You do the political thing, you get in trouble," he told reporters on Tuesday.

• Republicans have been hitting Democratic incumbents hard over the border issue. One conservative group recently dropped $15 million to hit Tester over his immigration record, Politico reported.

The big picture: The House made Mayorkas the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876 in February.

• The impeachment articles charge Mayorkas with breach of public trust and failing to carry out U.S. law.

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional reporting.