Representative Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has sent a letter to the National Parks Service, demanding answers on why the outdoors memorials have been barricaded during the shutdown.
The letter was co-written by Goverment Operations subcommitee chair John Mica (R., Fla.).
“Our concerns are heightened due to NPS’s suspicious decisions during the lead-up to the sequester,” wrote Issa and Mica in the letter. “This past spring the Committee uncovered evidence that NPS’s budgetary decisions were designed to intentionally cause the most disruption to the public in a time of reduced funding.”
“Specifically, the Committee received information that proposed budget adjustments submitted by an NPS official in the field to deal with sequestration impacts were rejected by NPS superiors in favor of cuts that would be more visible and disruptive,” add Issa and Mica.
The letter requested that the NPS provide related documents by October 17.