The political battle over the now bankrupt solar-power firm Solyndra will escalate this week when House Republicans move to subpoena the White House for any internal documents related to the failed firm’s government loan,
Lawmakers said the subpoenas are necessary because the Obama administration has repeatedly denied their requests for the information.
In a scathing joint statement, Reps. Fred Upton and Cliff Stearns, the top Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, accused the White House of stonewalling lawmakers who have been investigating the $535 million government-guaranteed loan issued to Solyndra, which soon fired all of its employees, closed its doors and declared bankruptcy.
“Subpoenaing the White House is a serious step that, unfortunately, appears necessary in light of the Obama administration’s stonewall on Solyndra,” Stearns and Upton said in the statement. “What is the White House trying to hide from the American public? It is alarming for the Obama White House to cast aside its vows of transparency and block Congress from learning more about the roles that those in the White House and other members of the administration played in the Solyndra mess.”
The White House made it’s own move to blunt Republican attacks by announcing Friday that it would initiate its own investigation into the failed energy company. Administration officials said former Treasury official Herb Allison will conduct a 60-day review.
But that’s not likely to stall the GOP’s probe.
Twice this month Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans wrote to White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler requesting internal documents related to Solyndra. But Ruemmler denied the requests, saying there was no need for the White House to supply the information since three other agencies involved in the loan were already turning over their documents.
The request, Ruemmler said, is not only duplicative, but also encroaches on “long-standing and significant institutional executive branch confidentiality interests.”
But Upton and Stearns said Friday they are not buying the argument that the commutations should be kept secret.
“We fail to see why internal White House communications about a loan guarantee to a solar panel manufacturer would implicate issues of national security or the other foundations upon which the Supreme Court has recognized the privilege,” they said in the joint statement.
The Energy and Commerce Committee must first vote on whether to authorize the subpoena, but it is expected to do so when the panel meets Thursday. Republicans outnumber Democrats on the committee, 31 to 23, virtually guaranteeing the subpoena’s approval.
It’s unclear whether Democrats will join Republicans in authorizing the subpoena. A spokeswoman for panel Democrats did not return calls seeking a comment.
The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Henry Waxman of California, wrote to Upton and Stearns last week urging them to expand their investigation into loans outside of the renewable energy field to the nuclear power industry many Republicans favor.
“The committee’s goal should be to protect the taxpayer, not to single out an industry you may disfavor for special scrutiny,” Waxman wrote. “From a taxpayer perspective, there is no reason to ignore the nuclear loan guarantees.”
