Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf defied a subpoena and did not show up to testify Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee on threats facing the United States.
Chairman Bennie Thompson issued the subpoena for the DHS chief to appear alongside FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Wolf had signaled that he would defy the subpoena as did acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli, who argued that the two top officials did not need to comply.
“Chairman Thompson can complain all he wants, but the facts are clear, and they are not on his side,” Cuccinelli said on Wednesday. “Longstanding precedent says that pending nominees don’t testify to other committees as their nomination is pending.”
Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, expressed his frustration with Wolf’s decision not to attend. He noted the annual hearing on the status of threats facing the U.S. has taken place every year since the 9/11 terrorist attacks and that a Homeland Security secretary has never refused to appear.
“Regardless of who was occupying the White House, whether Democrat or Republican, we’ve received cooperation in that effort. Today was supposed to be no different. Unfortunately, as we see from the empty chair in front of us, Mr. Chad Wolf is not here to represent the Department of Homeland Security,” Thompson said. “It was not until last week that the department informed the committee that Mr. Wolf would be reneging on the commitment to testify in anticipation of being nominated for secretary of homeland security.”
“I would note that despite his refusal to testify today, Mr. Wolf has spoken to the media on multiple occasions since President Trump announced he intended to nominate Mr. Wolf to be secretary of homeland security, including no fewer than four appearances on Fox News,” Thompson added.
Thompson also said Wolf has been running the department for 10 months. He said there is no legal statute that prohibits nominees from testifying. He said Wolf’s defiance of the subpoena “should appall every member of this committee.”
Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers, the ranking Republican on the committee, disagreed with Thompson. He noted that Wolf could have testified earlier in the summer prior to his formal nomination, but House Democrats did not move fast enough.
“Wolf offered to testify before this committee in both July and August. Unfortunately, the majority refused to make either of those dates work. Now, due to his nomination, Mr. Wolf is prohibited from testifying under a policy that has been in place in both Republican and Democratic administrations for decades,” Rogers said.
