Washington, D.C. -Today, the top ranking Democrats on 16 House Committees sent a letter to all Members of the House of Representatives denouncing the recent effort by House Republicans to vastly expand the ability of committee chairmen to issue unilateral subpoenas with no debate and no vote.
“For decades, responsible committee chairmen-both Democratic and Republican-recognized that the coercive power of subpoenas should be used only as a last resort, and they obtained the concurrence of the ranking member or called a committee vote before issuing subpoenas," the Members wrote. “This year House Republicans are changing the rules to give some chairmen unfettered authority to issue subpoenas unilaterally, adopting an abusive model embraced only by Senator Joe McCarthy, former Rep. Dan Burton, and Rep. Darrell Issa. To their credit, some well-functioning committees, such as the Committees on Appropriations, Armed Services, Intelligence, and Veterans’ Affairs, did not expand subpoena power for their chairmen."
The Ranking Members circulated a powerful op-ed written by former Rep. Henry A. Waxman in the Washington Post titled “Congressional Chairmen Shouldn’t Be Given Free Rein Over Subpoenas."
Waxman, who spent 40 years in the House, chaired multiple committees, and is widely respected by Democrats and Republicans as one of the most effective congressional investigators in history, warned against “emulating the McCarthy-Burton-Issa model." He wrote: “This is an invitation to abuse that diminishes the prospect for responsible congressional oversight. Unfortunately, this ill-fated move has received virtually no attention."
Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Select Committee on Benghazi
Ranking Member Corrine Brown, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
Ranking Member John Conyers Jr., Committee on the Judiciary
Ranking Member Peter A. DeFazio, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Ranking Member Eliot L. Engel, Committee on Foreign Affairs
Ranking Member Raul M. Grijalva, Committee on Natural Resources
Ranking Member Eddie Bernice Johnson, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology
Ranking Member Sander M. Levin, Committee on Ways and Means
Ranking Member Nita Lowey, Committee on Appropriations
Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr., Committee on Energy and Commerce
Ranking Member Adam Schiff, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Ranking Member Louise M. Slaughter, Committee on Rules
Ranking Member Adam Smith, Committee on Armed Services
Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson, Committee on Homeland Security
Ranking Member Chris Van Hollen, Committee on Budget
Ranking Member Maxine Waters, Committee on Financial Services
