Speaker Johnson meets Gov Abbott in Texas to talk border action, Mayorkas impeachment

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on the latter’s home turf on Thursday, where they discussed the ongoing border crisis and the House GOP’s response to it.

The meeting came hours after Johnson revealed that the House of Representatives would send impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate on April 10. 

"By opening the border to criminals, traffickers, and cartels, the Biden administration is actively endangering the American people, our families, ranchers, and law enforcement. When the federal government fails to perform its constitutional duty to protect our borders, states have no choice but to fill that role," Johnson said in a statement after the meeting.

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Speaker Mike Johnson met with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Thursday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)

"Right now, we’re witnessing a gross abuse of power as Biden’s Department of Justice uses the judicial system to go after the state of Texas for attempting to safeguard its citizens. Texans, and all Americans, deserve better."

Johnson expressed support for Abbott’s efforts to secure the border between Texas and Mexico, the speaker’s office said, and that the two discussed ways to "hold the Biden administration accountable."

The Louisiana Republican also briefed Abbott on the House readying to transmit the impeachment articles to the Senate, Johnson’s office said.

Abbott in turn urged Johnson to "pass border security legislation that will help stop illegal crossings between ports of entry along the southern border," the governor’s office said.

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The two discussed the House's impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. (Getty Images)

"The Governor also implored Speaker Johnson to support the state's ongoing fight against President Biden's attacks on Texas' historic border mission and his refusal to secure the border," Abbott’s office said.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on the meeting.

Abbott has been in a standoff with President Biden for months over differing views on how to handle the migrant crisis at the border.

The White House has criticized Abbott and Texas officials for actions carried out under Operation Lone Star, which has included putting up razor wire at the border and transporting migrants to Democrat-run cities like New York City and Chicago. Texas officials have accused the White House, however, of not doing enough to stop the migrant crisis on the federal level.

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Republicans have been pushing President Biden to do more about the southern border. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

House Republicans have similarly pressured Biden over the border crisis, repeatedly hammering him and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for failing to take up a strict border security bill, H.R.2, which Democrats have dismissed as a nonstarter.

Johnson sent a letter to Schumer on Thursday informing him that House impeachment managers would send the impeachment articles to his chamber on April 10 and urged him to hold a trial "expeditiously."

"As Speaker and impeachment managers of the U.S. House of Representatives, we write to inform you that we will present to you upon the Senate’s return, on April 10, 2024, the duly passed articles of impeachment regarding Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. We urge you to schedule a trial of the matter expeditiously," Johnson wrote alongside the 11 Republicans selected as impeachment managers.

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

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