This week, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Chairman Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Administrator Richard W. Spinrad seeking further answers on the recent reversal on supporting the continued operations of four dams in the Lower Snake river after failing to provide documentation and address the committee's concerns. In part, the members wrote: 

"Your unresponsiveness to the Committee’s document requests suggests that NOAA and NMFS are deliberately engaging in obstruction to frustrate the oversight power of Congress. This is unacceptable. The American public deserves transparency, and the Committee will not hesitate to utilize the tools at its disposal to administer effective oversight and fulfill the Committee’s responsibility to the American public."

Read the full letter here, and the initial letter sent on May 1, 2023 here.