WASHINGTON — On Wednesday, Democrats in the U.S. Senate expressed worry that Republicans had set up a hearing for one of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees before he had finished the required paperwork and background investigation by the FBI.
Separately, ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee Martin Heinrich and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer denounced the ruling, claiming it establishes a concerning precedent.
As has long been the norm, Schumer stated on the floor yesterday that the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources has noticed a hearing for Governor Doug Burgum to be the next secretary of the interior without the agreement of a minority. Since the committee has not yet been provided with basic information regarding Governor Burgum’s background, Senate Democrats on the committee have legitimate concerns about holding this hearing.
In a written statement, Heinrich, a Democrat from New Mexico, expressed his disappointment that the committee’s chairman, Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, had set up the hearing for Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota.
The Senate is required by the Constitution to advise the President’s nominees and, if it so chooses, to assent to them. Heinrich wrote that each nominee needs to be carefully considered for this. In order to accomplish this, applicants who have been before the ENR Committee for decades have undergone an FBI background check, approved by the Department’s ethics office, and responded to a standard questionnaire and financial disclosure form. I refuse to agree to notice of nomination hearings until these procedures are finished.
Every government, party, and nominee need to be held to the same standards. Chairman Lee should rethink his choice, in my opinion.
Heinrich has not yet received confirmation that the FBI has finished Burgum’s background investigation, according to a committee spokesperson.
According to the spokesperson, Heinrich has also not received Burgum’s financial disclosure report, Form 278e, or documents from the Office of Government Ethics stating that their staff has examined his financial disclosures and ethics agreements and they think he complies with ethics laws as required by the Ethics in Government Act.
In a statement, Lee expressed disappointment at Ranking Member Heinrich’s attempt to postpone the issuance of a hearing notice rather than concentrating on fulfilling the demands of the November election, which were to restore American energy dominance following years of exorbitant energy prices and policy failures.
According to Lee, the Office of Government Ethics received the same amount of documentation from Governor Burgum this week as the Democrats on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee did in 2009 when they became aware of confirmation hearings. As chairman, I have tried my best to cooperate with our Democratic colleagues, but we will not allow delays that compromise the mandate of the American people. I hope Democrats will join us in delivering results for the American people. It’s time to move forward and concentrate on solutions that will unlock America’s full energy potential.
Burgum’s hearing is one of the earliest for any of Trump’s candidates and is set for Tuesday at 10 a.m. In November, Trump declared his intention to appoint Burgum, who had just concluded his second term as governor of North Dakota in December, to head the Interior Department.
Burgum, 68, attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business and earned a master’s degree in business administration in 1980 after graduating from North Dakota State University in 1978.
Prior to Microsoft’s 2001 acquisition of Great Plains Software, he served as its CEO. After then, Burgum served as the company’s senior vice president until 2007. He co-founded Arthur Ventures, a venture capital business, a year later.
In 2002, Yahoo Finance estimated Burgum’s net worth to be over $1.1 billion.
With 76.5% of the vote, Burgum was first elected governor of North Dakota in 2016 and was reelected with 65.8% in 2020.
A Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing for former Georgia U.S. Representative Doug Collins, whom Trump intends to nominate as VA secretary, and an Armed Services Committee hearing for Pete Hegseth, whom Trump wants to head the Department of Defense, are among the other confirmation hearings set for Tuesday.
The confirmation process is anticipated to proceed on Wednesday with hearings for Trump’s choice of Kristi Noem of South Dakota as secretary of homeland security in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state in the Foreign Relations Committee, and Russ Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, in the Homeland Security committee.
There will probably be more in the coming days and weeks, but the Senate won’t be able to vote on the nominations on the Senate floor until after Trump takes the oath of office on January 20.
In a brief interview earlier this week, Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, stated that he was unsure of when he would start committee hearings with Trump’s nominees for public health agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health, because they had not yet finished their background checks and paperwork.
Although he wasn’t certain if it would be feasible, the Republican from Louisiana stated that he planned to start those hearings by the end of January.
My hesitation stems only from the fact that we have additional hearings and I’m not sure if we have obtained all we need. Thus, in part, this is outside my control, Cassidy stated.
He claimed that before setting up hearings, other committees were also awaiting documentation and background checks from some of Trump’s nominees.
“I don’t control that process,” Cassidy added, “because I know other committees have had problems and haven’t received everything they need to receive yet.”
One of the reasons Cassidy cited for his desire to swiftly confirm public health nominees is the ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu or H5N1.
Indeed, H5N1 is a severe threat. It goes without saying that you want to get folks in there and that they are the correct person, Cassidy added. Therefore, I believe we move forward with all necessary urgency.
Shortly after Cassidy’s remarks regarding the confirmation process, Louisiana announced the nation’s first human death associated with the ongoing avian flu outbreak on Monday.
As is customary during the nomination process, Cassidy met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s choice for secretary of health and human services, in the senator’s Capitol Hill office on Wednesday.
After graduating from Louisiana State University Medical School in 1983, Cassidy, a doctor, posted on social media that he had an open discussion with Kennedy.
We had a lengthy conversation regarding immunizations, Cassidy writes. Anticipating the Finance and HELP hearings.
This report was contributed to by Ariana Figueroa.
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