WASHINGTON -- The head of the government's main international broadcasting agency flouted a subpoena for congressional testimony Thursday, angering both Democrats and Republicans already alarmed by his management tactics.
Michael Pack, chief executive of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees Voice of America and similar institutions, was issued a subpoena by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week after he reneged on a promise to appear before the panel and cited unspecified "administrative proceedings," according to the panel's chairman, Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y.
Engel alleged Thursday that Pack "manufactured this conflict to get out of being here today."
Spokesmen for the U.S. Agency for Global Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pack has been the subject of scrutiny that commenced before he was confirmed to his position less than four months ago. In his brief tenure, he has ousted the heads of VOA's sister operations Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, the Middle East Broadcasting Networks and the Open Technology Fund, frozen spending, and refused to renew the visas of foreign journalists -- a move he has defended as an effort to root out potential spies.
Democrats have been calling for Pack's ouster, pointing to those and what they see as other unorthodox management decisions.
Pack's tactics have also upset Republicans. During Thursday's hearing, the ranking Republican on the committee, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, drew attention to the consequences of Pack's decision to freeze spending for the Open Technology Fund in particular. The fund's leaders were reinstated by court order over the summer.
"I believe his actions damaged support during the heights of unrest in Hong Kong, and they are continuing to do so today in Belarus," McCaul said, referring to public demonstrations against authoritarian regimes in both places. He also accused Pack of ignoring "the will of Congress."