Republicans have taken another step towards impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his handling of the US-Mexico border.
A House of Representatives committee voted to recommend impeachment charges against Mr Mayorkas.
All Republicans were in favour, while all Democrats voted against. The full House could vote as early as next week.
If the move goes forward, Mr Mayorkas will become the first cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876.
Opponents of the Biden administration accuse Mr Mayorkas of responsibility for record migrant arrivals.
More than 6.3 million migrants have entered the US illegally since 2021.
On Tuesday, the Republican-dominated House Committee on Homeland Security met to “mark up” articles of impeachment against Mr Mayorkas, a key procedural step taken before a bill advances to the floor of the wider House of Representatives.
At the outset of the meeting, committee chairman Mark Green – a Republican from Tennessee – accused Mr Mayorkas of not living up to his oath “to well and faithfully discharge the duties” of his office by allegedly failing to properly secure the US-Mexico border.
“He has wilfully and systematically refused to comply with the laws passed by Congress, and breached the trust of Congress and the American people,” he said. “The results have been catastrophic, and have endangered the lives and livelihoods of all Americans.”
Mr Mayorkas – who did not attend the hearing – hit back at the accusations.
In a seven-page letter released the same day, he said “false accusations do not rattle me” and outlined a number of steps taken by the Biden administration to enforce US laws at the border.
“The problems with our broken and outdated immigration system are not new,” he wrote. “Our immigration laws were simply not built for 21st century migration patterns.”
Mr Mayorkas also wrote that his parents came to the US from Cuba, which instilled in him a “reverence for law enforcement”.
Mr Green called the letter “inadequate and unbecoming of a cabinet secretary”.
Currently, Mr Mayorkas is working with the White House and a bipartisan group of senators to tighten border laws, which Republicans have demanded in exchange for agreeing to President Joe Biden’s request for more aid for Ukraine and Israel.
