By Steve Neavling
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are under fire for refusing to testify publicly at a Senate committee hearing on global threats to national security, breaking with a tradition of transparency before the panel.
Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, condemned the decision as a failure to provide public accountability at a critical time, the Associated Press reports.
“Their choice to not provide public testimony about their departments’ efforts to address wide-ranging national security threats robs the American people of critical information and the opportunity for public accountability of what the federal government is doing to keep Americans safe,” Peters, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement.
For more than 15 years, the FBI director and Homeland Security secretary have testified publicly at the annual hearing on threats to the homeland. Peters called their absence this year a “shocking departure” from longstanding protocol.
The hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, was designed to give Congress and the public a better understanding of the threats facing the nation, from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction to cybersecurity and natural disasters. While the agencies offered to testify in a classified setting, critics argue that public testimony is essential for transparency and accountability.
A separate hearing planned for Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee was also postponed.
The FBI defended its decision in a statement, saying it has “repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people” and emphasized the importance of classified discussions.
“FBI leaders have testified extensively in public settings about the current threat environment and believe the Committee would benefit most from further substantive discussions and additional information that can only be provided in a classified setting,” the FBI said.
The Department of Homeland Security echoed the sentiment, emphasizing the extensive unclassified information it has already shared, including its recently published Homeland Threat Assessment.
“DHS and the FBI already have shared with the Committee and other Committees, and with the American public, extensive unclassified information about the current threat environment,” DHS said in a statement.
The agency also highlighted that Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has testified before Congress 30 times during his tenure.
