By Laya Neelakandan
In Tuesday’s letters, committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and subcommittee chair Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin wrote that both Brown’s and Penn’s responses to the original document requests in April had been “inadequate.”
Those requests laid out 11 topics on which the committee wanted all records and emails and internal documents from the schools dating back six years.
A spokesperson for Brown told CNBC the university has “consistently cooperated” with the congressional investigation.
“While the House Committee’s July 1 subpoena was unnecessary given our voluntary compliance,” the spokesperson said, “We fully recognize the committee’s oversight authority and will continue to provide the committee with information it has requested.”
Likewise, Penn has “promptly and consistently” engaged with the committee’s requests, a spokesperson told CNBC. As part of this engagement, the school has provided more than 8,000 pages of documents to Congress so far.
Brown and Penn have until July 22 to comply with the subpoenas. Harvard was given until July 17.
According to the committee, the university subpoenas and the documents they compel will inform “potential legislative reforms” Congress is considering.
These include “whether existing civil and criminal penalties and current antitrust law enforcement efforts are sufficient to deter anticompetitive practices among higher education institutions.”