The White House is telling federal agencies not to cooperate with congressional Democrats’ oversight requests, for fear the information would be used to attack the President, Politico reported Friday.
Citing unnamed “Republican sources inside and outside the administration,” Politico reported that Special Assistant to the President Uttam Dhillon had instructed various agencies not to cooperate with Democrats’ requests in meetings this Spring.
“You have Republicans leading the House, the Senate and the White House,” an unnamed White House official told Politico. “I don’t think you’d have the Democrats responding to every minority member request if they were in the same position.”
A White House spokeswoman, commenting on background despite the administration’s repeated criticism of anonymous sources, contested to Politico that the administration’s policy was “to accommodate the requests of chairmen, regardless of their political party.”
Two House Democrats told the publication that they had been told, in response to oversight requests, that the administration would only respond to requests from Republican chairmen. Acting General Services Administrator Tim Horne confirmed as much in sworn testimony this month, Politico noted. Senate Democrats have run into similar obstructionism.
Citing unnamed “Democrats and Republicans,” Politico reported that some requests were still honored, particularly those to national security-related agencies.
Read Politico’s full report here.
