The Democratic chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee reprimanded the heads of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security for failing to appear for an annual hearing.
According to Michigan Senator Gary Peters, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray "refused to appear" before the Senate panel for their annual hearing on threats to the homeland.
This is the first time in 15 years the officials have failed to appear. Peters called out Mayorkas and Wray for their "shocking departure" from a "longstanding tradition."
"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 said in a statement.
"Americans deserve transparent, public answers about the threats we face. Secretary Mayorkas and Director Wray's refusal to speak publicly about their department's work will only increase the concerns that many Americans have about our nation's security at a challenging time, flout the Committee's efforts to conduct responsible oversight, and will deal a serious blow to trust in our government."
Republican Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma told Fox News that the only reason given why the officials did not appear was that they did not want to offer the testimony in public.
The hearings have been held for the past 16 years following the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. During the hearings, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center provide public testimony. Past hearings have tackled issues like cybersecurity, domestic and international terrorism, biosecurity threats and the national border.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told Newsweek that their group and the FBI had offered the Committee "a classified briefing" instead.
"DHS and the FBI have offered to the Committee a classified briefing to discuss the threats to the Homeland in detail, providing the Committee with the information it needs to conduct its work in the months ahead," the statement reads.
"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, including the recently published Homeland Threat Assessment. DHS takes seriously its obligation to respond to Congressional requests for testimony; in fact, Secretary Mayorkas has testified 30 times during his tenure."
The FBI told Newsweek it, too, has "repeatedly demonstrated" its commitment to "being transparent."
"The FBI has repeatedly demonstrated our commitment to responding to Congressional oversight and being transparent with the American people," the FBI said in a statement to Newsweek. "We remain committed to sharing information about the continuously evolving threat environment facing our nation and the extraordinary work the men and women of the FBI are doing — here at home and around the world — to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution of the United States.
"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."
This would have been Wray's first congressional appearance since Vice President-elect JD Vance suggested President-elect Donald Trump's transition team is meeting with candidates to oversee the FBI, seemingly indicating that Trump plans to fire Wray before the end of his term.
"When warranted, the Committee regularly works with these agencies to receive classified briefings," Peters said. "Those briefings have not been, and should never be, a substitute for appropriate public discussion of homeland security issues."
The hearing was postponed.
Peters stated that it "cannot be the practice of the Executive Branch to deny the public critical information and disregard Congress' constitutionally recognized right to conduct oversight."
"I urge Secretary Mayorkas and Director Wray to honor the commitments they made to appear publicly at this hearing, and to ensure that both Congress and the American people have the opportunity to hear directly about how their agencies are working to protect our national security in an increasingly dangerous world," Peters wrote.
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