It's not quite official yet, but one article of impeachment has already been "dismissed" and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer appears to have the votes to prevent a impeachment trial of Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. 

Mayorkas was impeached by the GOP-led House of Representatives for refusing to enforce immigration laws and breaching the public trust. His abdication of duty has led to the most dire border crisis in the nation's history, causing harm to countless people in the process. 

WATCH LIVE: Mayorkas Impeachment Trial Begins

For all of American history, every single impeachment sent to the Senate has resulted in a trial. Schumer decided to break that precedent on Wednesday, moving to "dismiss" both articles of impeachment. 

The norm-breaking, duty-abdicating move by Schumer and Senate Democrats upsets 227 years of congressional history. 

In his remarks from the Senate floor, Schumer said he would make two motions, one to dismiss each of the two articles of impeachment passed by the House earlier this year: the first article deals with the DHS secretary's "willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law" and the second article addresses Mayorkas' "breach of public trust."

.@SenSchumer: The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas failed to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future. pic.twitter.com/95H2mU6SAq

— House Judiciary Dems (@HouseJudiciary) April 17, 2024

Astonishingly, one of the arguments made by Schumer on the floor of the Senate was that no impeachable offense was identified against Mayorkas. That is completely false. For one, as Democrats and their press lackeys assured us during Donald Trump's first impeachment, no actual "high crime or misdemeanor" is necessary. Impeachment has been proclaimed a political remedy wholly defined and controlled by Congress.

More importantly, though, Mayorkas is accused of lying under oath, which is a crime that clearly meets the bar of impeachment. 

Schumer literally just argued that the offense Mayorkas is charged with in article II of the impeachment articles — knowingly making false statements to Congress — is not impeachable.

I made a motion to allow the Senate to debate this question.

Dems voted it down. #Silenced

— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) April 17, 2024

Assuming Schumer succeeds (and it looks likely), this means that Democrats have once again set a short-sighted precedent that is sure to backfire on them. By nuking Mayorkas' trial, no president or administration official whose party holds the Senate will ever be subject to an impeachment trial again. Any articles of impeachment transferred against an ally will now be "dismissed" regardless of their merits.

Given how exceptionally likely it is that Republicans retake the Senate in November, that means Trump would be impeachment-proof if re-elected. No doubt, Schumer and the press will cry bloody murder, but they chose to go down this road. Like the elimination of the filibuster for judicial nominees, Democrats have once again flown too close to the sun in their naked thirst for power. 

Further, voters should hold them accountable for it. There are several Senate Democrats in very tough re-election contests such as Sen. Jon Tester in Montana who voted to go along with Schumer's ploy. They let it be known they don't care what the Constitution says, and they don't care about holding Democrat officials accountable. That seems like a pretty good reason to vote them out of office.

Regardless, as of this writing, things are still technically up in the air regarding one article of impeachment. RedState's Susie Moore will have a detailed write-up of the day's machinations when the final word arrives.