Republicans to hold 1st hearing in move to impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

House Republicans are moving ahead with impeachment proceedings against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as they continue to make immigration a key 2024 campaign issue.

The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday will hold its first hearing after a yearlong probe to examine what they are calling the secretary's «failed leadership» as the southwest border experienced a surge of migrants.

Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., during a GOP visit to a Texas port of entry last week, accused Mayorkas of having «broken his oath to defend this country» and called him a threat to national security.

Mayorkas defended the administration's work in his own visit to the Eagle Pass, Texas, entry point on Monday. He said the department's taken «bold, necessary steps» while Congress has yet to pass legislation.

«Some have accused DHS of not enforcing our nation's laws,» he said. «This could not be further from the truth.»

Witnesses at Wednesday's hearing will include attorneys general of Montana, Oklahoma and Missouri. The three Republican state officials have voiced criticism of the Biden administration's handling of the border.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson blasted the hearing as a «political exercise» at taxpayers' expense.

«There is no valid basis to impeach Secretary Mayorkas, as senior members of the House majority have attested, and this extreme impeachment push is a harmful distraction from our critical national security priorities,» the spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News.

Migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border reached a record high in December. Sources told ABC News preliminary data showed there were 302,000 encounters last month.

Border Patrol apprehensions have decreased from the historic