Natural Resources Committee gears up for vote to subpoena Interior

A House Natural Resources Committee vote to subpoena the Department of Interior could come as early as next week after months of consideration by the committee. The vote, expected during markups, would give Committee Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) the authority to force Interior to hand over records after a long list of acrimonious exchanges between lawmakers and department leaders. Committee Democrats have sought a number of records from Interior throughout the Trump administration but have been frustrated after frequently receiving either no response or heavily redacted records. The bipartisan nature of those grievances was on display in September, when the committee held a hearing to discuss the lack of response to their requests. “There are many of us on the other side of the aisle that may not share the Democrats’ policy positions, but do recognize the role of oversight, and are frustrated when legitimate requests, bipartisan requests are made and not answered,” Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) said at the hearing. The vote would dictate the scope of Grijalva’s subpoena powers and kick off a discussion about what records the committee would seek...MORE