Issa threatens to subpoena OMB director

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has threatened to subpoena’s President Obama’s budget director over a draft executive order requiring disclosure by federal contractors of political contributions.

Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew on Friday declined to participate in the May 12 hearing on the order, citing the fact that the executive order is still being drafted and has not been issued. He said that deputy director Jeff Zients will not participate either.

“If OMB continues to demonstrate an unwillingness to cooperate fully with the Committee’s oversight function, we will be required to use the compulsory process,” Issa and small business subcommittee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) wrote Lew in a May 9 letter.

Issa and Graves argue that the executive order will create a litmus test for contractors that could result in contracts being denied to GOP supporters.

Lew in his Friday letter to Issa noted that OMB officials have testified five times before Oversight hearing this year and twelve times during this Congress. He said OMB is committed to transparency.