Democratic Rep. Bobby Scott of Virginia is threatening to subpoena Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, even though her office has offered to make her available for testimony.
DeVos’s office and Scott, who chairs the Education and Labor Committee, have been in a back-and-forth since late October over whether it is necessary to have DeVos testify. But in a Nov. 12 letter to Scott obtained by the Washington Examiner, counsel for the department offered to make DeVos available for a hearing on Dec. 12.
Even so, an official at the department said that Scott’s office is still indicating it may subpoena the secretary as soon as Friday.
At issue is the Education Department’s continued collection of loan debt for a for-profit school, despite a court order to halt the collections. The department has argued that it was not intentionally defying a court order but that the issue was leftover from the Obama administration and no system was in place to adjudicate each borrower’s case.
Scott’s office announced on Nov. 1 that the congressman may compel DeVos to appear before his committee after she “rejected my invitation to voluntarily participate in lawful Congressional oversight” and show for a Nov. 19 hearing.
The Nov. 12 letter, however, shows that the department told Scott that DeVos was already scheduled for a cabinet meeting. Instead of DeVos, counsel for the department offered Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Mark Brown to testify on that date.
“If, despite General Brown’s testimony at the November 19 hearing the Committee determines that it is critical for the Secretary to appear at a hearing,” the letter states, “she will agree to do so on December 12, 2019, or the following week, for a period of ninety minutes.”
According to the letter, the department would also assume the accommodations were agreed upon lest it heard from Scott’s office otherwise by close of business on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
An official at the department said they never heard back from Scott or his office.
Previous correspondence from the department also shows attempts by DeVos to speak directly with Scott on the phone or in-person first, in hopes that it may render an official hearing unnecessary. The department also offered alternative officials to testify. Those overtures were rejected by Scott’s office.
Scott’s office did not return a request for comment immediately.
