Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee blocked on Wednesday an effort by Democrats to force senior Trump administration officials to testify about the objectives and cost of the Iran war.
In a 24-22 party-line vote in the committee, Republicans rejected a subpoena request from Representative Gregory Meeks of New York, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. Meeks sought to compel Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the two Trump administration advisers leading Middle East negotiations, to appear before the committee.
“We have many outstanding questions, and if this committee cannot hold hearings on a war involving U.S. forces, the diplomacy around it and its impacts on our allies and partners, then we are not meeting our most basic oversight responsibility,” Mr. Meeks said.
Mr. Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have held several classified briefings with lawmakers in both the House and Senate, but Democrats have been increasingly frustrated that, more than three weeks into the war, no administration officials have appeared for public questioning.
Last week, Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, testified before the House and Senate intelligence committees for an annual hearing about global threats. Her testimony raised additional questions about the Iran war after she suggested that there was not imminent threat from Iran, one of the justifications the Trump administration had given for attacking without notifying Congress.
Representative Brian Mast of Florida, a Republican and chairman of the committee, rejected Mr. Meeks’ calls for more hearings and said that the closed-door sessions had addressed “every detail that you want to know about this conflict.”
Mr. Mast also noted that Mr. Rubio was expected to appear before the committee in May.
That timeline has not satisfied Democrats looking for answers now.
“The people of the United States of America deserve every bit of transparency, absolutely,” Mr. Mast said during a heated exchange with Mr. Meeks. But he argued that meetings should not be open to the public to protect classified information.
Robert Jimison covers Congress for The Times, with a focus on defense issues and foreign policy.
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