The House Foreign Affairs Committee has issued a subpoena to the Obama administration compelling it to release long-withheld documents concerning the training of diplomatic security personnel tasked with defending Americans abroad.
Since 2014, Rep. Ed Royce (R., Calif.) the committee’s chairman, has been seeking key documents from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regarding State Department plans to construct a nearly $1 billion training facility for diplomatic security personnel.
Royce issued a subpoena to the OMB on Friday to force the release of documents detailing whether construction of the new training facility will be cost effective.
Critics such as Royce argue that an existing training site operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would address current training needs and save the taxpayers nearly $1 billion.
Following the deadly attack on a U.S. compound in Benghazi, Libya, the State Department issued plans to build a new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center in Blackstone, Va.
The initial cost of the facility was projected to be about $413 million. However, further estimates elevated the cost to around $950 million, prompting questions from Royce and other lawmakers.
"The State Department proposal appears far more costly than the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) proposal to expand its Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, Georgia to provide State Department diplomatic security training, as is currently taking place," Royce’s office said in a statement issued Friday, following the subpoena.
Royce argues that the new facility would be redundant and a burden on the taxpayer.
"In an increasingly dangerous world, the security of U.S. diplomats abroad is paramount. We must ensure that our diplomats receive improved security training, and a big part of providing that training effectively is making the most of our limited resources," Royce said in a statement.
"That is why for nearly a year, I’ve been asking OMB to provide the Committee with its analysis, which according to OMB officials’ statements to Committee staff, recommended using an existing facility—a course that the Administration has apparently chosen to ignore. I’d like to know the factors considered in this important decision," he said.
Royce has petitioned the OMB multiple times to hand over internal documents related to the facility.
The OMB wrote but did not release publicly two analyses advocating that the State Department house its diplomatic training program within the DHS’ existing facility, according to Royce’s office.
"OMB has given no indication it will comply fully with these requests" to handover the relevant documents, Royce’s office said on Friday.
The OMB says that it is working with the Foreign Affairs Committee to comply with its requests.
"OMB has been working with the committee in good faith to provide relevant material responsive to its requests and will continue to do so," said Melanie Roussell, a spokeswoman for the OMB, on Friday.