The Republican-led House Oversight Committee is moving ahead with a subpoena against the U.S. Commerce Department after months of requests for records regarding the department’s decision to halt new firearms export licenses.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) notified Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo of the new subpoena in a Wednesday letter. Mr. Comer’s congressional probe began after the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced on Oct. 27 that, “effective immediately,” it would block the issuance of new export licenses for firearms, ammunition, and firearm components for approximately 90 days. As part of the Oct. 27 announcement, the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration (ITA) would not accept new requests for export assistance for firearm-related exports.
Mr. Comer first began seeking answers about the pause on new firearms export licenses back in November. He initially set a Dec. 13 deadline for the Commerce Department to voluntarily turn over the requested records, but said no documents had come through by that date.
According to the Kentucky Republican, the House Committee followed up with the Commerce Department on Dec. 19, during which the department responded that it was “working diligently” on the records request. Committee staff followed up with the Commerce Department again on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 19, and in the latter instance warned that compulsory measures may be in order if the executive branch department did not provide the requested documents by Jan. 26.
Mr. Comer said the Commerce Department eventually responded on Jan. 24 by providing 311 pages of materials pertaining to the export license pause. Mr. Comer said the 311 pages of documents consisted entirely of “public-facing” documents, some of which were already referenced in the Commerce Department’s Oct. 27 announcement. He said the records were “devoid of any internal documents or communications that would provide context as to their relevancy to the decision to institute the pause.”
“It has now been over 75 days since the Committee’s initial request, and Commerce has failed to produce any documents that were not either cited in the initial letter or publicly available online,” Mr. Comer’s Wednesday letter to Ms. Raimondo reads.
“As Chairman of the Committee, I urge you to cooperate speedily and in good faith with this subpoena.”
The subpoena requests all documents and communications related to the 90-day export license pause within the Commerce Department; all documents and communications about the pause between the Commerce Department the White House or any official within President Joe Biden’s executive office; all documents and communications guiding BIS and ITA personnel during the 90-day firearm export license pause; and all documents and communications regarding the firearm export control review that took place during the 90-day firearm export license pause.
The subpoena gives the Commerce Department until Feb. 28 to turn over the requested documents. The subpoena gives the Commerce Department until Feb. 26 to determine if it cannot turn over the documents on time, and calls for the department to still comply to the extent possible and provide an explanation for any further delays.
NTD News reached out to the Commerce Department for comment on the new subpoena but did not receive a response by press time.
Republican lawmakers have raised concerns about the decision-making that led to the 90-day firearm export license pause.
Forty-six Republican senators signed a letter to Ms. Raimondo on Nov. 16, expressing “significant concerns about the justifications for and ramifications of this pause.” The Republican senators noted an assessment by the National Shooting Sports Foundation—a firearms industry trade association—that estimated the U.S. firearms industry would lose at least $89 million in the course of the 90-day pause, and at least $238 million annually, should the pause become permanent.
