Perhaps the most important part of the background checks starts with the nominee’s submission of a financial disclosure form – the same one that the president and vice-president file – which is then reviewed by the OGE as well as the White House Counsel’s Office, notes CNN.
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A hearing for Labor nominee Andrew Puzder has also been pushed back.
The other nominees, including Nikki Haley, the Indian American governor of SC nominated ambassador to the United Nations, and General James Mattis are expected to come up for the confirmation hearings next week.
Democrats are expected to challenge Sessions’ commitment to civil rights and press him on his conservative views on immigration policy.
“I mean, when Senator Schumer says that he is going to allow the vacancy in the Supreme Court to take as long as he wants, and he’s going to hold up cabinet secretaries, and he’s targeting eight of them when only just a few short years ago, it was the Democrats that were saying, we needed to move swiftly to approve these cabinet secretaries”. Dianne Feinstein of California, to four witnesses and one day of questioning Sessions. But as McConnell’s spokesman, Don Stewart, noted on Twitter, McConnell raised those concerns after the Senate had already confirmed most of Obama’s Cabinet.
Republicans had originally scheduled five hearings for Wednesday, but pushed back committee appearances for Central Intelligence Agency head nominee Mike Pompeo to Thursday and Education Secretary pick Betsy DeVos to next week.
Housing and Urban Development Secretary – Ben Carson, surgeon: The former Republican presidential candidate was an early supporter of Trump after his own bid failed but he has no experience managing a large organization.
There will be no shortage of topics, not the least of which is Trump’s friendliness to Russian Federation despite its interference in the presidential election.
In a statement Sunday, Schumer said, “Until these nominees have fully cooperated with the ethics review process, the hearings and confirmation schedule should not be rushed”.
As a result, Senate Democrats appear likely to try to hold up Trump’s Cabinet picks for a fight on the Senate floor, giving more time for background checks to be completed, Sen.
McConnell’s cavalier attitude toward the ethics process belies the fact that it is Republicans who have the most to lose.
McConnell is hoping to have seven of Trump’s nominees confirmed by Trump’s first day in office on January 20. The aide also said DeVos’s paperwork is still in progress, but that committee precedent requires it to be ready before a vote on her nomination, and not the hearing.
Trump campaigned on a promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington of corruption and special interests. He claimed again Monday that separating his business empire from the presidency will be “very simple, very easy”. For Secretary of Education, Michigan billionaire Betsy Devos’ investment in for-profit online charters – which have performed badly in California – and apparent disdain for public schools is alarming.
A new president is entitled to pick his advisers and to fill political positions in the executive branch, and Trump is no exception.
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Donald Trump’s cabinet picks present a unique challenge for the independent federal agency tasked with preventing ethical conflicts.
