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Democrats have accused justice officials of dragging their feet to make an appointment, but in negotiations with legislators, the ministry privately cited complications of government closure and Whitaker's travel program to explain the delay, sources said. One source said that the Legislative Affairs Office of the Department of Justice, which coordinates appearances with departmental leadership on the Hill, has been understaffed during the closure in recent weeks and typically requests 14 days' notice prepare for the hearing
The president of the judiciary, Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, asked that Whitaker appear on January 31 at the latest.
If Whitaker does not fix this deadline, it is possible that his long-awaited appearance will be postponed until after his permanent replacement, Bill Barr, takes the job, should it be confirmed by the Senate. If that happened, Democrats would lose a valuable opportunity to question Whitaker while he was acting Attorney General responsible for overseeing the special advocate's investigation.
However, Nadler is not ready to let Whitaker fend for himself, claiming last week that Democrats would summon him to appear "if he had to."
"They're dragging their feet on a date," Nadler told CNN.
Nadler and House House Oversight Chair Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, had a phone call with Whitaker last month in which the Acting Attorney General had agreed to appear before the Judiciary Committee to discuss , in part, his role in monitoring Mueller's investigation.
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