Mayorkas and Wray skip public Senate hearing on threats to nation

Source: Roll Call

Posted November 21, 2024 at 2:50pm, Updated at 6:17pm


Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Christoper Wray declined to testify publicly at a Senate committee hearing Thursday on threats to the nation, drawing a rare bipartisan rebuke from members who had to cancel it at the last minute.

It was the second scuttled congressional hearing in as many days for Mayorkas and Wray, whose agencies said they offered to answer questions in detail in a classified briefing. The House Homeland Security Committee on Wednesday postponed their threats hearing — after it had been scheduled to start — and instead planned a classified version next month.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Gary Peters, D-Mich., pulled no punches in condemning the high-ranking officials — even though one is a Cabinet appointee in a Democratic administration — for a “shocking departure” from the tradition of public testimony at the annual hearing.

“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. “Americans deserve transparent, public answers about the threats we face.”

Read more: https://rollcall.com/2024/11/21/mayorkas-and-wray-skip-public-senate-hearing-on-threats-to-nation/