Hastings questions motives for SRS cuts

House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) demanded information about subpoenas on the administration’s decision to retroactively subject payments for the Secure Rural School program to sequester spending cuts in letters sent on Tuesday.

Hastings sent letters to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews Burwell. He questioned why administration officials had not complied with the subpoenas issued in September and invited them to testing at a hearing on Nov. 20.

“It is unacceptable that the Obama Administration has failed to fully comply with the subpoenas,” Hastings said. “The Obama Administration’s decision to retroactively sequester SRS funding raises very serious questions that have yet to be answered, including how and why this action was taken. Given the administration’s refusal to turn over all of the requested documents, these officials should be prepared to appear before the committee to explain in person why they have failed to abide by congressional subpoenas, and what they are keeping from the public,”

The USDA and OMB released 808 and 600 pages of documents, respectively. Hastings says the documents and emails raise questions about why the SRS funding was subjected to the sequester.

“These rural communities already face neglect from mismanagement of our federal forests, increased risk of catastrophic wildfire, depressed economies and economic uncertainty and this deliberate action by the administration is yet another example of President Obama’s painful-as-possible approach to the sequester,” Hastings said.