In the week prior to Jordan taking over as committee chair in the 118th Congress, White House Counsel Richard Sauber told Jordan he would have to resubmit all his requests and that the White House “will review and respond to them in good faith, consistent with the needs and obligations of both branches.”
The Ohio Republican noted in his letters sent again on Tuesday how itemized lists were provided for convenience, yet oversight requests were ignored by high-ranking officials for months.
“For two years, the Biden Administration has stonewalled Congress, refused to comply with basic document requests, and avoided transparency and accountability for its failures,” the GOP judiciary said in a statement. “House Judiciary Republicans are committed to holding each agency accountable under the new majority.”
He chastised the White House’s excuse for noncompliance. In one letter to President Joe Biden’s White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain, he wrote that nothing in federal law prevented the White House from voluntarily complying with requests.
“To date, you have not complied with our long-outstanding requests for information and documents,” Jordan wrote. “Instead, the Biden White House provided a perfunctory letter that discounted Congress’s constitutional oversight authorities, failed to produce any documents or information requested, and declined to address any matters of substance.”
Aside from Klain, letters were sent to these other six individuals:
Attorney General Merrick GarlandFBI Director Christopher WrayDepartment of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro MayorkasEducation Secretary Miguel CardonaATF Director Steve DettelbachDrug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Anne Milgram
The letter to Wray mentions “allegations of politicization and bias” at the FBI, including whistleblower disclosures alleging the FBI’s improper use of law enforcement resources for political purposes and the FBI’s “purging of employees with disfavored viewpoints.”
Letters to Klain and Cardona make requests “concerning the Biden Administration’s misuse of federal criminal and counterterrorism resources to target concerned parents at school board meetings.”
The letter to Garland demands oversight from the Department of Justice and “much more accountability and transparency … regarding the Biden Administration’s misuse of law enforcement resources” in relation to said school board meetings.
“Parents voicing their concerns at school board meetings are not domestic terrorists,” Jordan wrote. “Yet, your anti-parent directive remains in effect and as a result, the threat of federal law enforcement continues to chill the First Amendment rights of American parents. We intend to continue to pursue this serious misuse of federal law-enforcement resources.”
The letter to Milgram seeks “an examination of the Biden-Harris Administration’s position of only supporting a permanent class-wide scheduling of fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act if it is tied to far-left, anti-law enforcement policies.”
“House Judiciary Republicans will use compulsory processes, if necessary, to get answers for the American people,” tweeted the House Judiciary GOP account.
Newsweek has reached out to Jordan and Biden administration officials for comment.