Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is facing backlash for living the high life as victims of Hurricanes Helene and Milton continue to suffer.
On Thursday, he briefly visited North Carolina before rushing back to Washington, D.C. to dine like a king.
“Mayorkas touched down in the Tar Heel State around 10 a.m. before jetting back to the nation’s capital, where he was spotted … at 5:15 p.m. carrying bags of food from [a] posh international Japanese restaurant chain — where sushi and sashimi selections are priced at $60 a plate and the highest-grade Wagyu steaks go for $40 per ounce,” according to the New York Post.
“A photographer snapped the apparently peckish Mayorkas, 64 — still wearing his navy blue suit and white dress shirt — exiting the Northwest DC establishment at 5:30 p.m., just 30 minutes after it opened. The cabinet official was home by 5:40 p.m., dodging DC’s notorious rush-hour traffic,” the Post notes.
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“DHS chief Mayorkas spends under six hours in Helene-hit NC before bolting to grab sushi at DC Nobu” pic.twitter.com/YeBt3dSPum— ZZZ (@AskMeLaterOn) October 12, 2024
Congressional Republicans were not pleased.
“This Administration has completely failed the American people, again,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told the Post. “It is offensive that the secretary is wasting time eating over-priced sushi rolls at fancy restaurants, when he should be working to get disaster relief out the door immediately for the people in desperate need of basic necessities.”
Johnson has room to talk because he reportedly spent “two working days” visiting victims in both N.C. and Florida.
“I think it’s important for the speaker of the House to come,” he told reporters earlier in the week. “It’s symbolic to show that it’s the whole of Congress that has our eyes and our attention, our prayers on the community here and those who are affected. We want them to know they will not be forgotten and that we will get recovery dollars to these communities as is needed.”
Florida Rep. Carlos Gimenez also slammed Mayorkas.
“It just shows you that he’s not a hands-on individual,” the congressman told the Post. “He’s shown over his last three and a half years to be totally incompetent in his job.”
“To be honest with you, I haven’t seen him. I see more, you know, it’s the mayors and the governors that are coming out, and police and firefighters are the ones that are coming out that I’ve seen. He’s been a complete failure as the secretary of Homeland Security, just as this administration has been a complete failure,” he added.
Sen. Ron Johnson meanwhile argued that Mayorkas’ latest “dereliction of duty” proves that Republicans were right to impeach him.
House unveils articles of impeachment against DHS chief Mayorkas ahead of Tuesday vote https://t.co/iIWZFw4QH0 via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) January 28, 2024
“The House appropriately impeached Mayorkas for lying to Congress, but Senator Schumer dismissed the case claiming it didn’t rise to the level of a misdemeanor,” he said. “Mayorkas’ most recent dereliction of duty dealing with hurricane relief only confirms he should have been convicted and removed from office.”
Mayorkas’ behavior also reportedly irked some Democrats, with one telling the Post that it was “the definition of insensitive and the epitome of elitism.”
“During a hurricane, particularly a storm like Milton, the protocol is all hands on deck — 24/7 work to support the area that has been hit and to flex the competency of the administration amid crisis,” a second Democrat said. “However, it appears that when it comes to being a roll (sic) model in crisis, Secretary Mayorkas thinks of sushi.”
All this comes about a week after the DHS secretary effectively ignored Hurricane Milton’s arrival by instead shopping at a pricey menswear store in D.C.
“The DHS head strutted through the brick-and-mortar retailer in a smart navy blue polo, light khakis and New Balance tennis shoes while eyeing more items for his own wardrobe — possibly the $795 corduroy Butcher Jacket with a trendy camouflage design,” the Post notes.
Introduced by Rep. Mark Green around the start of the year, the first impeachment article against Mayorkas accused him of having displayed a “willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law.”
The second article claimed he’d violated the public’s trust by having “knowingly made false statements, and knowingly obstructed lawful oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.”
Having exhausted all other options to hold Secretary Mayorkas accountable, it is unmistakably clear that Congress must exercise its constitutional duty and impeach him. pic.twitter.com/t8MpwAQ0tE
— Rep. Mark Green (@RepMarkGreen) January 28, 2024
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