House GOP cuts State Dept. budget to protest Benghazi delays

WASHINGTON — Following through on a threat, House Republicans have proposed cutting the State Department’s budget to protest its slow response in producing documents related to the investigation of the terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

The House Appropriations Committee said a budget plan unveiled Tuesday “withholds 15 percent of State Department’s operational funds until requirements related to proper management of Freedom of Information Act and electronic communications are met.”

The chairman of the Benghazi panel, Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, has complained that the State Department has delayed providing emails and other documents involving former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Gowdy and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to withhold some State Department spending to ensure that officials move more quickly to comply with the committee’s requests for documents.

MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press