Davis called the House Administration Committee’s involvement both “unusual and unfortunate,” saying he wished the matter could have been handled internally, between Issa and Cummings.
“I think we were looking for clarification about who has oversight over minority’s travel funds,” Davis said today. “I believe we thought it was the ranking member who decided that.”
The House Administration Democrats have asked Issa to respond to a series of questions about his panel’s policies regarding official travel, particularly travel by Democrats, in what appeared to be something of an informal probe.
Jamie Fleet, the staff director for House Administration Democrats, said Issa’s letter tonight fell short of their request.
“His response did not address the specific questions asked by our committee, notably ones on his own similar use of official funds,” Fleet wrote in an email. “Most importantly, Chairman Issa failed to guarantee the core principle of Minority rights and full control of one-third of the Committee’s budget as promised in his testimony to the House Administration Committee.”
Should this issue not resolve itself, Issa could be challenged early next year, when all chairmen and ranking members of House committees are required to testify before the House Administration Committee to provide updates on how they spend their budgets.
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