Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) announced Monday he had postponed the confirmation hearing for Doug Burgum, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Interior, for two days due to a “bureaucratic delay.”
Lee, who is the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, pushed the former North Dakota governor’s hearing from Tuesday to Thursday because the Office of Government Ethics had yet to complete its review.
“Governor Doug Burgum has been fully cooperative throughout the confirmation process, promptly submitting his paperwork to the Office of Government Ethics,” Lee wrote in a statement. “Despite his compliance and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee noticing the hearing in accordance with all rules, OGE has yet to complete its review. This bureaucratic delay is unacceptable.”
Lee said the extra 48 hours were meant to provide the OGE more time to complete its work but stressed the agency should work with “urgency.”
“To ensure transparency and uphold the integrity of this process, the committee will postpone Governor Burgum’s hearing until Thursday,” Lee wrote. “However, we expect OGE to act with urgency and complete its review without further unnecessary delays.”
Lee’s actions came after Democrats on the panel on Monday had been dialing up the pressure for Republicans to delay the hearing by at least a week. Ranking member Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and the rest of the Democrats on the committee sent a letter to Lee noting they had not received the proper vetting material.
“The Committee still has not received the standard financial disclosure report, ethics agreement, or the opinions from the designated agency ethics officer and the Office of Government Ethics stating that the nominee is in compliance with the ethics laws, which are required by law of all nominees for positions that require Senate confirmation,” Heinrich said.
The New Mexico Democrat raised concerns last week about Burgum’s hearing taking place before the proper paperwork had been received.
“The Senate has a constitutional duty to advise and, if it determines, consent to the President’s nominees. This requires careful consideration of each nominee,” Heinrich wrote in a statement released last week. “To achieve this, for decades, nominees that have come before the ENR Committee have submitted responses to a standard questionnaire and a completed financial disclosure form, approval from the Department’s ethics office, and completion of an FBI background check.”
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The delay of Burgum’s hearing appears to be part of a larger theme as several nominations are falling behind schedule due to administrative delays. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) also postponed a confirmation hearing for former Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), who was nominated to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, after the FBI did complete its customary background check in time. In addition, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, does not have a hearing scheduled due to missing vetting materials.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) has been under pressure to get most of Trump’s nominees ready for a vote by the time he is sworn in on Jan. 20 or shortly thereafter. But paperwork holdups, including slower-than-expected FBI background checks, could get in the way of that time frame.
