Next week, the Senate will be faced with a critical decision: fulfill our constitutional obligations and give the American people the opportunity to hold Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for his disastrous open-border policies or cave to political pressure by shielding this administration from taking accountability for the disastrous border crisis.

Five years ago, Majority Leader Schumer repeatedly told colleagues and the American public, “we would do well to remember our constitutional duty to act as judges and jurors in a potential trial,” yet is noticeably silent as a member of his own party faces justifiable scrutiny. In our country’s more than 200-year history, the U.S. House of Representatives has sent Articles of Impeachment to the Senate just 21 times, and the Senate has fulfilled its responsibility to schedule a trial each time unless the subject resigned or was removed from office prior to conviction.

The overwhelming majority of Americans agree Secretary Mayorkas is deliberately skirting his responsibility to enforce our current immigration laws, and this week during a telephone townhall I hosted with Senator John Barrasso, people calling in from across the state of Wyoming echoed this sentiment.

Under Secretary Mayorkas’ failed leadership, dangerous cartels have assumed control of the southwest border this administration abandoned, and they have rolled out the red carpet for people on the terror watch list and flooded our communities with dangerous drugs. Fentanyl-related deaths have become the number one killer of young Americans and more than 300 suspects on the Known Terror Watchlist have been apprehended attempting to enter our country illegally. All told, there have been more than 9.2 million illegal aliens who have invaded the U.S. on Secretary Mayorkas’ watch, and every state has become a border state.

I have always maintained impeachment is— and should be—a last resort, yet Secretary Mayorkas’ blatant and repeated failures to uphold the rule of law and prioritize American citizens’ safety can no longer go unanswered. The people of Wyoming have made their position on this matter crystal clear and they deserve answers.

This week, I joined Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) in sending a letter to Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) demanding a trial for Secretary Mayorkas’ impeachment. We have a moral and constitutional obligation to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable for his catastrophic failures to enforce U.S. immigration laws and by falsely testifying to Congress that the border is secure. Leader Schumer’s plan to table the Articles of Impeachment not only violates Senate rules, but effectively silences the American people. Majority Leader Schumer and Senate Democrats’ partisan attempts to shield this administration from its self-inflicted crisis will not stand, and I will continue to fight so the people of Wyoming are able to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable.
 

Happy Trails,

This week, I had the privilege of hosting groups from across the Cowboy State in our nation’s capital during our Wyoming Wednesday with Senator John Barrasso and Rep. Harriet Hageman.

If you plan on traveling to Washington, D.C. over the next few months, I encourage you to come by the Capitol on Wednesday mornings for breakfast and conversation.

This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would set the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for two of the most common and best-studied per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, once again establishing unworkable water standards that could drastically harm Wyoming’s rural water providers.

The people of Wyoming need access to clean, safe drinking water, and I support creating a standard for PFAS and PFOS levels in drinking water, but I am worried about the precedent this standard would set. These treatment levels seem nearly unattainable, and I have serious concerns over the cost of compliance. Wyoming taxpayers and ratepayers should not be responsible for this cost; it should be paid by those causing the pollution. As D.C. bureaucrats continue handing down their out-of-touch regulations that challenge our western way of life, I will continue my work to shield the people of Wyoming and ensure this administration’s onerous regulations do not limit Wyoming’s producers and industries.

The United States Department of Agriculture will be accepting applications for funding under the ReConnect Program until May 21, 2024. This is the fifth round of funding under the program, which provides loans and grants to bring high-speed internet to the most underserved rural and tribal communities across the country.

A total of $700 million is available under four funding categories:
• Up to $200 million is available for loans.
• Up to $200 million is available for loan/grant combinations.
• Up to $150 million is available for grants.
• Up to $150 million is available for grants serving Alaska Native corporations, tribal governments, persistent poverty areas and socially vulnerable communities.

This week, Laramie is a little safer thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office which successfully executed Operation Shattered Glass, seizing 16,385 fentanyl pills, 604 grams of methamphetamine, 64 grams of heroin, 4 grams of cocaine and five unlawfully possessed firearms.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of the sheriff’s department and a 15-month-long investigation, 32 suspects, including 12 who were higher level dealers, are now in custody and lethal drugs are off the streets of Laramie. Please join me in thanking the detectives and the state and federal officials who partnered to successfully get these dangerous drugs off of our streets.

Read the full story here.