WASHINGTON (AP) -- The leaders of the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security declined to testify publicly at a scheduled Senate hearing Thursday on global national security threats, a break from precedent following years of open testimony before the panel.

"Their choice to not provide public testimony about their departments' efforts to address wide-ranging national security threats robs the American people of critical information and the opportunity for public accountability of what the federal government is doing to keep Americans safe," Sen. Gary Peters, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee, said in a statement.

The Michigan Democrat said it was the first time in more than 15 years that an FBI director and Homeland Security secretary had refused to offer public testimony at the annual committee hearing focused on threats to the homeland, calling it a "shocking departure" from tradition.

A separate hearing scheduled for Wednesday before the House Homeland Security committee also was postponed.