Following reports that President-elect Trump’s Cabinet nominees have not yet provided the relevant Senate Committees with important documentation, such as a completed financial disclosure statement, ethics agreement signed by the Office of Government Ethics, and more ahead of their confirmation hearings, the Democratic Ranking Members of 16 Committees in the United States Senate issued the following joint statement of principles for vetting the President-elect’s nominees:
Statement of Principles for Vetting Cabinet Nominees of President-elect Donald J. Trump
“The United States Senate has a rich, bipartisan tradition of vetting nominees to the President’s Cabinet. We hope to continue that tradition with our colleagues in the Republican Majority because the American people are entitled to a fair and open consideration process for all executive nominations. Therefore, a Cabinet nomination should only proceed to a mark-up in Committee if:
- The nominee has cleared an FBI background check
- The nominee provides a completed financial disclosure statement and ethics agreement signed by the Office of Government Ethics
- The nominee has satisfied reasonable requests for additional information and Members have time to review that material.”
U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
U.S. Senator Tom Carper
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill
Ranking Member, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
U.S. Senator Patty Murray
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation
U.S. Senator Jack Reed
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on the Budget
U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
U.S. Senator Jon Tester
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
U.S. Senator Tom Udall
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
U.S. Senator Mark Warner
Ranking Member, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Finance
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