Rep. Jim Jordan subpoenas government agencies in GOP-led probe on alleged censorship

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed three government agencies on Friday as part of a Republican-led investigation into allegations of censorship.

The subpoenas were sent to Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Jen Easterly, Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA); and James P. Rubin, Special Envoy and Coordinator for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center.

Jordan, R-Ohio, is requesting they provide his committee with communications between their agencies and private companies and third-party groups to determine if the agencies “coerced, pressured, worked with, or relied upon social media and other tech companies in order to censor speech,” Jordan wrote in letters announcing the subpoenas.

Jordan alleged that the agencies have failed to respond or produce any documents responsive to the committee’s request for voluntary cooperation with the three agencies in March.

But that’s disputed by the Department of Homeland Security, which houses CISA, and the Department of Health and Human Services, which houses the CDC, both of which suggested that the subpoenas were unnecessary.

“The Department of Homeland Security does not censor speech and does not request that content be taken down by social media companies,” a DHS spokesperson told NBC News in an emailed statement. “Instead of working with the Department, as numerous committees have done this Congress, the House Judiciary Committee has unnecessarily escalated to a subpoena. DHS will continue cooperating appropriately with Congressional oversight requests, all while faithfully working to protect our nation from terrorism and targeted violence, secure our borders, respond to natural disasters, defend against cyberattacks, and more.”

A source familiar with the process said that the DHS was working to gather the requested information when the committee issued its subpoena.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told NBC News in an email that HHS received the subpoena and complies with “legitimate oversight requests.”