Mayorkas and Wray No Shows at Final Senate Hearing

As this congressional session winds down, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas and FBI Director Wray were scheduled to appear on the Hill for the year-end hearings with the Senate Homeland and Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

Only hours before they were scheduled to appear, the committee was informed they would not be showing up, which sent Republicans on the war path.

Not Coming

Traditionally, as the session closes out, the heads of agencies are called to the Hill to testify before the relevant committees.

With the Biden administration just about done, Mayorkas and Wray appeared to have other plans.

Mayorkas knows he is getting replaced, and it is widely assumed that Wray will be fired if he does not resign when Trump takes over, so the general consensus is that they both thumbed their noses at Republicans and decided to skip the hearings.

A spokesman told the committee, “DHS and the FBI have offered to the Committee a classified briefing to discuss the threats to the Homeland.”

Lots to Account For

Both of these men were going to get put through the wringer, and they knew it.

I don’t have time to list the problems with the FBI, but I am sure that Wray figured why go through the hassle, knowing his days are numbered.

As far as Mayorkas is concerned, there are numerous issues burning up the news cycle right now related to Homeland Security, and most of them are related to him ignoring our immigration laws.

But again, since he has been torched every time he has been in the hot seat on the Hill, my guess is that Mayorkas did not want to be embarrassed, so he decided to skip out.

GOP Goes Nuclear

The reaction by Republicans was about as one would suspect. Ranking Member Rand Paul (R-KY) stated, “The American people deserve to hold these officials accountable for their actions under the Biden Administration.”

Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) added, “They are cowards. Mayorkas must face the American people and answer for his historic failures that allowed for two assassination attempts on [President-elect Donald Trump] and created a wide-open border with terrorists, criminals, and deadly drugs like fentanyl pouring into our communities. America is less safe because of him.”

Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO), who has called for both of these officials to resign on numerous occasions and again stated that he was looking forward to seeing Wray’s resignation, stated, “Secretary Mayorkas and Director Wray’s refusal to testify publicly today in the Senate is an outrage — and a brazen attempt to avoid oversight for the political abuses at FEMA, the FBI, and more.”

Scott is right. This was a cowardly move by two men who have disrespected this country and its citizens on multiple occasions. My only hope is that Wray stays on so Trump can fire him and embarrass him rather than sneaking out the back door with a resignation right before Trump takes office.