Republicans on a House Natural Resources subcommittee blocked a Democratic motion to subpoena Donald Trump Jr., President Donald Trump’s eldest son, over his backing of critical mineral companies.
President Trump’s administration is trying to rapidly increase the production of critical minerals in the U.S. Vulcan Elements, a rare earth magnet maker backed by Trump Jr.’s 1789 Capital, received a $620 million federal loan last year from the Department of Defense.
Democrats on the panel sought to subpoena the younger Trump to force his testimony on the Vulcan deal. The hearing, called by the majority Republicans on the Oversight and Investigations subcommittee, was titled “Unleashing America’s Mineral Potential: The Critical Mineral Commodity Supply Chain.”
“We are done waiting for Republicans to fulfill their responsibility to conduct oversight,” said Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore, the top Democrat on the subcommittee, when offering the motion to subpoena. “Donald Trump Jr. must be made to answer whether the president’s son illegally profited from his father’s presidency.”
Dexter also called to subpoena Patrick Witt from the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital. After publication of this story, CNBC was told by the committee that Dexter incorrectly named Vulcan Materials CEO Ronnie Pruitt. She intended to subpoena the CEO of Vulcan Elements, John Maslin, the company that Donald Trump Jr. backs.
