House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., will accuse top Minnesota government officials of being "asleep at the wheel" at the start of his panel's high-profile hearing into alleged fraud.

In Comer's opening statement, obtained by Fox News Digital, he is expected to question whether "Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison, and Minnesota’s Democratic leadership" were negligent or "complicit" in the growing scandal.

"Minnesota’s social services — which are funded by you, the American taxpayer — are being ripped off. The most vulnerable are suffering as a result," Comer will say, according to his prepared remarks. 

"The fraudsters — many of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community — have stolen from programs meant to feed needy kids, provide services to autistic children, house low-income and disabled Americans, and provide healthcare to vulnerable Medicaid recipients."

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Federal prosecutors in Minnesota have charged multiple people with stealing more than $240 million from the Federal Child Nutrition Program through the Minnesota-based nonprofit Feeding Our Future.

However, the probe has since widened to multiple state-run programs being investigated for potential fraud. Childcare providers receiving state funding, mainly within the Somali community, are also under scrutiny.

U.S. attorneys have alleged that billions more dollars could have fallen prey to fraud in the state, something Walz has pushed back on while accusing Republicans of politicizing the scandal.

"Fraudsters like these take millions to enrich themselves while providing nothing, overstating, or outright faking the services. How many children have gone hungry because fraudsters stole money that was intended to provide them with food?" Comer will say.

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"How many autistic children were denied services because fraudsters instead sent this money overseas? How many low-income seniors, people with disabilities, or those with mental illnesses were denied access to housing because fraudsters drained resources and pocketed the money for themselves?"

Comer will argue in his statement that the revelations so far are "just the tip of the iceberg."

The Wednesday hearing, which kicks off at 10 a.m. ET, will feature testimony from three Republicans in the state legislature.

Comer summoned Walz and Ellison for a follow-up hearing on Feb. 10, but it's not yet clear if they will attend.

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., will also take part in Wednesday's hearing, Fox News Digital was told. Emmer is a longtime critic of Walz's administration and represents a district that's home to two out of three of the hearing's GOP witnesses.

Pope Leo XIV closed the Catholic Church's Holy Year on Tuesday by urging Christians around the world to help people in need and treat foreigners with kindness.

Leo, who has repeatedly stressed the importance of caring for immigrants during his papacy thus far, said at a Vatican ceremony that the record 33.5 million pilgrims who visited Rome during the Holy Year should have learned not to treat people as mere "products."

"Around us, a distorted economy tries to profit from everything," Leo said. "After this year, will we be better able to recognize a pilgrim in the visitor, a seeker in the stranger, a neighbor in the foreigner?"

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Holy years, or jubilees, typically happen every 25 years, considered to be a time of peace, forgiveness and pardon. Pilgrims to Rome can enter special "Holy Doors" at four Rome basilicas and attend papal audiences throughout the year.

Leo shut the special bronze door at St. Peter's Basilica on Tuesday morning, which officially marked the end of the Holy Year.

The next Holy Year is not expected before 2033, when the Catholic Church may hold a special one to mark 2,000 years since the death of Jesus.

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On Monday, the Vatican and Italian officials said pilgrims to Rome for the 2025 jubilee came from 185 countries, with the majority from Italy, the U.S., Spain, Brazil and Poland.

The 2025 jubilee was opened by the late Pope Francis, who died in April, and closed by Leo, who was elected in May, making him the first American pope.

It was a historical rarity not seen in 300 years for it to be opened by one pope and closed by another. The last jubilee held under two different popes was in the year 1700, when Innocent XII opened the Holy Year that was then closed by Clement XI.

Leo, who has promised to keep Francis' signature policies such as welcoming gay Catholics and discussing women's ordination, echoed his predecessor's frequent criticisms of the global economic system during his remarks on Tuesday.

The markets "turn human yearnings of seeking, traveling and beginning again into a mere business," Leo said.

Reuters contributed to this report.