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Republicans Subpoena White House Over Solyndra

Hannah Madans |
November 3, 2011 | 1:19 p.m. PDT

Associate News Editor

courtesy Creative Commons
courtesy Creative Commons
Republicans are continuing their inquiry into loan guarantees for defunct solar company Solyndra Thursday, overriding Democrat objections. Republicans on a House Energy and Commerce Committee panel voted to subpoena internal White House communications relating to the half-billion dollar tax-payer loan guarantee, according to The Washington Post.

The committee approved the resolution 14-9 after Democrats tried to delay the vote, according to Fox News. Democrats said the resolution was too broad and gave Chairman Fred Upton to much power.

The White House attempted to prevent the move by giving the committee several emails and other documents Wednesday, The Daily Beast reports.

Rep. Diana DeGeete (D-Colo.), a member of the panel against the subpoena called it a “sad day” for the committee and an “act of irresponsible partisanship,” reports The Washington Post. The committee has never subpoenaed the White House before.

Republicans said after a long investigation, they were unable to understand why Solyndra was selected to receive a loan guarantee under the stimulus act, according to Politico.

White House officials told the committee Oct. 14 it would not comply with a request for internal White House communications about the Solyndra loan. After the vote in favor of the subpoena, however, White House officials told The Washington Post the administration had cooperated with the committee producing over 85,000 pages of documents, 20,000 Wednesday afternoon.

“All of the materials that have been disclosed affirm what we said on day one: This was a merit-based decision made by the Department of Energy,” White House spokesman Eric Schultz told The Washington Post.

“We’d like to see as much passion in House Republicans for creating jobs as we see in this investigation,” Schultz continued. “The White House has been clear with the committee that we are willing to cooperate with legitimate oversight requests that are tailored to balance the important institutional interests of both branches. We are disappointed that the committee has refused to discuss their requests with us in good faith, and has instead chosen a partisan route, proceeding with subpoenas that are unprecedented and unwarranted.”

Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.), chairman of the subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, said the panel investigated for over eight months and established itself as a legitimate investigation. Stearns said the White House was slow in getting the information to the committee and made an investigation difficult.

"We want to get to the bottom of this," Schultz told Fox News. "What is there about the word 'slow-walk' that the Democrats don't understand?"

The committee will continue its investigation of loans given to Solyndra.

White House Chief of Staff William Daley announced Friday that he ordered a 60-day independent review of the Energy Department’s loan portfolio, which will include recommendations on how to improve the loan monitoring process, according to CNN.

The review will be held by Herb Allison, who has worked for both the Obama and Bush administrations.

 

Reach associate new editor Hannah Madans here.

 

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