House Democrats reportedly want to hit administration officials where it hurts — withholding salaries of Interior, Commerce and Department of Justice staffers who block committee investigations.
According to The Hill, House Oversight and Reform chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., sent letters calling for eight current and former Trump administration officials to provide information on two of the panel’s investigations.
"Please be advised that any official at the Department who 'prohibits or prevents' or 'attempts or threatens to prohibit or prevent' any officer or employee of the Federal Government from speaking with the Committee could have his or her salary withheld pursuant to section 713 of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act," Cummings wrote, the news outlet reported.
The committee noted seven of the eight interviews recently requested for the panel’s probes were either denied or remain unanswered, The Hill reported.
One interview request related to the addition of a question on citizenship to the 2020 census; another was on whether Interior Secretary David Bernhardt and his staff complied with federal record-keeping laws, The Hill reported.
The power play by Cummings is the latest move in a struggle over the House Democrats’ investigations amid a promise last month from President Donald Trump that he’d fight “all the subpoenas."
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