In their first letter together as chairwoman and ranking Republican of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Military Personnel Subcommittee, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rick Scott, R-Fla., wrote last week to U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel Gilbert Cisneros, following up on requests for information by members of the committee.
The letter follows recent testimony before the subcommittee where senators raised their concern over the lack of responsiveness from the Department of Defense (DoD) to congressional requests for information.
“We want to remind you of the several requests for information, reports, and responses to previous letters requesting information that Senators have yet to receive and that they raised with you and your colleagues during the hearing,” wrote senators.
Several members of the subcommittee have reached out to DoD multiple times, seeking information about recent policy directives and overdue reports on military personnel that were required under previous National Defense Authorization Acts.
“In all cases, the requests issued last week were at least the second if not in some cases the third time we have called upon the Department to comply,” concluded the lawmakers. “As we both indicated to you all during the hearing, congressional requests for information are not only owed to us due to our constitutional oversight responsibilities, but they are also an important means by which our two branches of government can cooperate for the sake of better policy on behalf of taxpayers.”
The lawmakers asked for a response from DoD as soon as possible with a fulfillment of these requests.
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