Letter to Mr. Timothy Horne, US General Services Acting Administrator - Ethical Conduct of the General Services Administration

Letter

Dear Acting Administrator Horne:

We understand that, as of January 20, 2017, the General Services Administration (GSA) no longer feels obligated to respond to requests for information by Ranking Members of the Congressional committees with legislative and oversight jurisdiction over your agency and its programs. This partisan change in policy is unacceptable.

Under the Obama administration, the GSA Administrator responded to requests for information from Ranking Members of such Congressional committees regardless of whether the Ranking Member was a Democrat or a Republican. Under the Trump administration, the GSA policy appears to be to respond to Republican Chairmen but not Democratic Ranking Members. It has not gone unnoticed that your agency has been nonresponsive to our inquiries since that time.

We regard this as a serious breach of protocol and an abdication of your responsibility to run an open and transparent independent agency on behalf of the American people. GSA's mission to provide billions of dollars in procurement services for Federal agencies carries with it the obligation to ensure that taxpayers are getting the best value possible for their hard-earned tax dollars. This mandate requires that your agency spend wisely, upholding the highest ethical standards. It also requires that your agency disclose information about its policies and the decisions it makes to us, the elected representatives of the American people.

We expect a prompt reply that includes answers to all of our previous inquiries, as well as answers to the following questions:

Is it now the policy of GSA that it may decline to provide information requested by Ranking Members of Congressional committees of jurisdiction? How does this policy differ from the policy of the Obama administration?
When was the most recent directive on this matter issued, in any form, to GSA staff? Who issued that directive and what was the content? If the directive was in writing or in electronic format, please provide us with a copy.
Did the White House or any other Federal agency provide GSA with advice or instruction on this matter?
We strongly urge you to immediately rescind this partisan policy and provide the information we require so that our Committees can conduct oversight of the agency. Please respond in writing to this letter no later than April 11, 2017.

Sincerely,

PETER DeFAZIO
Ranking Member
Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
United States House of Representatives

TOM CARPER
Ranking Member
Committee on Environment
and Public Works
United States Senate

HANK JOHNSON
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Economic Development,
Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
United States House of Representatives

BEN CARDIN
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
United States Senate