The FBI and DHS have said they would be willing to brief the Senate on national security conditions in a classified setting.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and FBI Director Chris Wray declined requests to testify at a Nov. 21 Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.
The Senate committee had called the hearing to discuss ongoing threats to national security and called on Mayorkas and Wray to address the committee in an open setting.
In a statement, Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.) said it had been more than 15 years since an FBI director or Homeland Security secretary had refused to testify before the committee.
“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.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the ranking member on the committee, said, “It is unacceptable that the FBI director and DHS secretary are refusing to testify publicly at our annual hearing on threats to the homeland.”
Addressing Wray’s decision, the FBI said in a statement that it remains committed to working with Congress but would have preferred to have the hearing behind closed doors.
“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 statement reads.
In another statement, the DHS also said it had offered to provide the committee with a classified briefing on the current national security conditions, rather than the open setting the committee chose.
“DHS takes seriously its obligation to respond to Congressional requests for testimony; in fact, Secretary Mayorkas has testified 30 times during his tenure,” the statement said.
President-elect Donald Trump will take office just weeks from now, and Republicans are set to take the Senate majority.
Paul said the American public deserves accountability from Wray and Mayorkas for their leadership during the Biden administration.
Congressional Republicans led an impeachment effort against Mayorkas earlier this year, criticizing his handling of immigration and border security concerns.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached Mayorkas, but the Democrat-controlled Senate voted to dismiss the impeachment articles without a trial.
On the 2024 campaign trail, Trump signaled that he would take a harder line on immigration and border security once in office.
The incoming president has said he would also deputize the National Guard and cooperating local law enforcement agencies to help rapidly detain and remove criminal illegal immigrants.
Trump has nominated Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to replace Mayorkas as homeland security secretary.
She was among the first Republican governors to send her state’s National Guard troops to assist Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a state-level effort to slow the number of illegal border crossings into the United States.
Once in office, Trump will also have the chance to replace Wray, whom he appointed as FBI director during his first term.
Trump has yet to name a selection for the FBI directorship.