House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) subpoenaed Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday over failure to produce documents for the committee’s investigation into a State Department grant that promotes atheism overseas.
The committee has requested documents on the $500,000 grant since August 2023, and the subpoena requires Blinken to submit the requested information by 5 p.m. on Sept. 4.
“Despite repeated opportunities for voluntary compliance, the State Department has failed to turn over critical information regarding its grant to Humanists International, instead engaging in a pattern of obfuscation and denial regarding its programming and the existence of key documents,” McCaul said in a statement on Thursday. “We must get to the bottom of why the department — tasked with advancing America’s interests abroad — found the promotion of atheism to be an acceptable use of taxpayer funds. Unfortunately, its failure to comply with my requests has left me no choice but to issue a subpoena.”
In August 2023, McCaul and other House Republicans wrote a letter to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor acting Assistant Secretary Erin Barclay and Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Rashad Hussain. The lawmakers asked them to provide information about the grant titled “Promoting and Defending Religious Freedom Inclusive of Atheist, Humanist, Non-Practicing and Non-Affiliated Individuals.”
The State Department argued that the DRL and the Office of International Religious Freedom do not provide funds to organizations that intend to use them to promote specific religious ideologies. However, House Republicans argue that the title of the grant contradicts that claim and are seeking additional information on the grant and the organizations it supports.
McCaul also issued a subpoena last week to Humanists International, a human rights organization, requesting documents as it seeks to determine whether the grant allows groups to be “intentionally exporting atheism abroad and distorting religious freedom in a partisan manner.”
He said organizations with “extreme, ideological agendas,” such as HI, have “refused to provide transparency” despite receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.
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A spokesperson for the State Department said in a statement to the Washington Examiner that the subpoena is an “extreme” step for the committee, saying that the department already confirmed with the committee that they would look for information relevant to its new request. The State Department said it did not withhold documents and that Congress is asking for additional information not originally requested.
The spokesperson said the department continues to be transparent and open with the committee and will be “remaining responsive” as the committee conducts oversight.
