The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Monday he had run out of patience with the Defense Department and wants to subpoena it for documents on hurricane relief operations in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands last year.
The committee opened a review in October of the response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. But Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., wrote a letter Monday to the committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., urging him to pursue the subpoena after what he called an “inadequate” response so far that produced some email documents in December.
“I am writing to request that you issue a subpoena to compel the Department of Defense (DOD) to produce documents we requested on a bipartisan basis more than four months ago relating to its preparation for, and response to, Hurricanes Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands,” Cummings wrote to Gowdy.
Cummings also asked that the committee be allowed to vote on a subpoena if Gowdy opposed the idea.
“If you decide not to issue this subpoena yourself, then I ask you to place this matter on the agenda for our next regularly scheduled business meeting so all committee members will have the opportunity to vote on a motion to subpoena these documents,” he wrote.
The committee had sent its original request to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Oct. 11 asking for all documents and communications about preparations and responses both before and after the powerful hurricanes struck the two U.S. territories.
The Defense Department’s “response to our committee’s bipartisan request has been inadequate,” Cummings wrote to Gowdy. “To date, DOD has made only one production, on Dec. 19, 2017, and this production included only a few pages of email communications, which are essential for the Committee to conduct a thorough and credible investigation.”
Mattis has given the committee no timeline for turning over additional documents, according to Cummings. The Defense Department did not respond to a request for comment about his request.
Hurricane Irma, the most powerful storm measured in the Atlantic, barreled into the territories in early September. Two weeks later, they were hit by Maria, one of the most powerful hurricanes in nearly a century. Both are still struggling to recover.
The military deployed troops, ships and aircraft to the islands in the aftermath. But some critics charged the White House was too slow to react and request additional forces.
Days into the disaster, the Defense Department sent a three-star Army general to Puerto Rico to lead recovery efforts, and by early October there were 10,000 U.S. troops there.
“I assure you, this is all hands on deck. There is no delay, when a request comes in, it is approved the moment it hits the Pentagon,” Mattis told the Senate Armed Services Committee during testimony in October.
