Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray declined to testify publicly Thursday at a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
The annual hearings are typically attended by the heads of DHS and the FBI, but Mr. Mayorkas and Mr. Wray decided not to participate, ending a more than 15-year tradition and sparking frustration on both sides of politics.
“I look forward to Coach Ray's resignation.”
Their refusal to testify about national security threats has sparked several controversies, including the scandal involving the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the conviction of an illegal alien in the murder of Laken Riley, and President Joe Biden's green light to send troops to Ukraine. It is based on the events. American long-range missile system against Russia.
The senators blasted Mr. Mayorkas and Mr. Wray for denying the American people an opportunity to be heard during the many high-profile issues currently facing the country.
The committee's Democratic chairman, Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), rejected their excuse that they could only testify in secret hearings.
“In a shocking departure from the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee's long tradition of transparency and oversight of the threats facing our nation, for the first time in more than 15 years the Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of the FBI will serve on the National Security Committee. The committee will provide public testimony at its annual hearing on threats to the homeland,” Peters wrote in a prepared statement. statement.
He accused Mayorkas and Wray of inflicting a “serious blow to trust in government.”
“Their contention that they can only communicate such information or answer questions on a confidential basis is completely baseless,” Peters added.
He called on both men to reconsider and participate in the hearing.
In a statement to reporters, Peters explained that public hearings traditionally include a closed session following public testimony. He also noted that the Department of Homeland Security released a 40-page document on threats to the homeland that the committee was scheduled to discuss.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called their refusal to testify “unacceptable.”
Paul: “The American people must hold these officials accountable for their actions under the Biden administration.” said.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) called for Wray's resignation.
“Secretaries Mayorkas and Wray's refusal to testify publicly before the Senate today is outrageous and a brazen attempt to evade oversight of political abuses at FEMA, the FBI, and elsewhere. I call for Secretary Wray's resignation. We look forward to seeing you,” Hawley said. said.
The hearing was adjourned until December.
In a statement to hill“The FBI has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to meeting Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people,” the FBI said.
“We are committed to sharing information about the evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work that FBI agents do at home and around the world to protect the American people and defend the Constitution of the United States. “We remain committed to the state,” the statement continued. “FBI leaders have testified extensively in public about the current threat environment, and we believe the Committee would be most beneficial from further substantive discussion and additional information that can only be provided on a classified basis.”
A DHS spokesperson told The Hill, “DHS and the FBI have already consulted with this committee, other committees, and the American public on extensive unclassified information about the current threat environment, including the recently released Homeland Threat Assessment. “DHS takes its obligations seriously.” In fact, Mayorkas has testified 30 times during his tenure. ”
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