The House Homeland Security Committee convened its inaugural impeachment hearing on Wednesday, targeting Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. Republicans, driven by concerns over the escalating border crisis, lambasted Mayorkas for what they claimed was a failure in carrying out his duties. However, Democrats dismissed the impeachment push as baseless and without merit.

During the hearing, Republican Chairman Mark Green from Tennessee argued that impeachment could extend beyond criminal behavior, asserting that officials guilty of "gross incompetence" could also be subject to removal. Legal experts and conservative scholars, on the other hand, contended that policy disputes do not rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors.

If Mayorkas were to be impeached, it would be an exceptionally rare event. In American history, only one Cabinet official, Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876, has ever faced impeachment.

While many Democrats acknowledged the broken immigration system and overwhelmed border, they adamantly denied the notion that the border is "open" or that Mayorkas has violated any laws.

The hearing featured testimony from Republican attorneys general from Montana, Oklahoma, and Missouri, who advocated for stricter border security and outlined the consequences their states faced due to the border crisis, including the impact of drug trafficking, particularly the highly dangerous synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Witness Frank Bowman, a law professor, invited by the Democratic panel, noted that if lawmakers disapprove of the Biden administration's immigration and border policies, they possess numerous legislative powers to effect change, with impeachment not being one of them.

Amidst the probe into Mayorkas, House Republicans have been intensifying scrutiny of the Biden administration on multiple fronts, including an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden himself. Republicans now believe that targeting Mayorkas will prove to be an easier endeavor as the border crisis becomes a defining campaign issue.

Homeland Security released a memo ahead of the hearing, branding the impeachment push as a "baseless political attack." The memo underscored that the majority of southwest border migrant encounters since the Biden administration took office either resulted in removal, return, or expulsion. Additionally, the memo noted that more fentanyl has been stopped and more individuals have been arrested for fentanyl-related crimes in the past two years than in the previous five combined.

Border authorities have reported approximately 3,000 daily migrant encounters at the US southern border this month, a significant drop from December's figures exceeding 10,000 daily encounters. Mexican actions to shift migrants further south and deport Venezuelans were cited as contributing factors.

White House officials attributed the recent decline in border crossings to high-level talks with Mexico. A delegation from Mexico is expected to visit Washington later this month to further discuss the issue.

The House voted in November to refer a resolution to impeach Mayorkas to the committee, which is now expected to hold additional impeachment hearings before moving forward with a markup on articles of impeachment. The impeachment push adds to an already crowded congressional calendar, as lawmakers also face looming government shutdown deadlines and potential clashes over immigration policies.

As the drive to impeach Mayorkas gains momentum, it has garnered support from key swing-district Republicans. However, with the narrow House GOP majority and skepticism among some House Republicans regarding the impeachment push, its success remains uncertain.

Jonathan Turley, a conservative law professor who previously testified at a House Oversight Committee hearing on the potential impeachment of President Biden, recently wrote an op-ed arguing against impeachable offenses by Mayorkas, though he strongly criticized the secretary in his piece.