WASHINGTON – A Senate committee issued subpoenas to the Pentagon on Tuesday asking for more information on the decisions to shut down military installations, including the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, the chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, the ranking Democrat, authorized the subpoenas for the panel. The subpoenas were served by facsimile Tuesday.

The senators said the Defense Department has had more than two years to prepare for the base closing process, and more foot dragging on releasing documents can’t be tolerated. They said the communities that want to defend their bases have a right to get all the information to make their case.

“The Pentagon has recommended a death sentence for these bases that they want to close,” said Lieberman of Connecticut. “And they’re not giving either us as the defense attorneys, if you will, or the jury and judge [the base closing commission] the information on the basis of which they’re making this recommendation of a death sentence.”

The legal move comes after weeks of complaints from members of Congress and state officials about the slow release of information from the Pentagon and the lack of backup material being provided. Officials also have objected that much information is classified and therefore cannot be discussed in public or at any of the coming hearings on the newest round of proposed base closures.

Already the independent commission reviewing the base closing list has postponed hearings in Missouri and Utah because of the Pentagon’s failure to give the panel information it needs. The New England hearing is scheduled for early July in Boston, and Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., said Tuesday he is considering asking for it to be delayed until the Pentagon provides the relevant information.

“Are they fully cooperating? I don’t think so,” he said.

New England would be dealt the biggest blow by the Pentagon’s recommended base closings, losing three major bases and absorbing nearly 50 percent of the net jobs cut nationwide. Collins and Lieberman represent Maine and Connecticut – the two states hit hardest by the base closing plan.

“The department knew this day was coming,” Collins said. “There is absolutely no excuse for the department not to have completed the declassification process by now. That’s just another example of foot dragging.”

Two naval bases – the submarine base in Groton, Conn., and the Portsmouth shipyard in Kittery, Maine – and Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod are targeted for closure, which would slash nearly 13,500 jobs at the three facilities. In Maine, the Pentagon also has recommended closing the Defense Finance and Accounting Service center in Limestone and sharply cutting back operations at Brunswick Naval Air Station.

Collins said she wants more information on the Pentagon’s calculation of cost savings resulting from the base closings. And Lieberman said he questions why defense officials did not include the submarine school when looking at the Groton base’s unique capabilities.

Lawmakers have been poring over documents related to the proposed shutdown of the Groton, Portsmouth and Otis bases, and said they question how the Pentagon calculated the facilities’ military value – a key factor in deciding which bases should close.

The Senate committee also is seeking additional e-mails and internal Defense Department memos underlining the decisions.

The Pentagon will have until noon Monday to provide the information.

“It shouldn’t be too much to ask that basic information and documents used to justify it are provided in a timely fashion,” said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn. “The Pentagon already is late with these documents and they absolutely shouldn’t be able to run out the clock when it comes to releasing them.”

Pentagon officials have said repeatedly they are releasing the information as quickly as they can. They are in the process of declassifying much of the information, so that it can be released publicly.