The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has postponed Interior secretary nominee Doug Burgum’s confirmation hearing as leaders continue to wait for the required paperwork to trickle in.
Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) announced Monday that the hearing has been rescheduled from Tuesday to Thursday morning.
The postponement comes after days of complaints from the panel’s top Democrat, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, who last week accused Lee of breaking protocol by scheduling the hearing without his consent and despite not yet having received required ethics and financial disclosures.
Heinrich led the committee’s eight Democrats and one independent in firing off a letter to Lee on Monday asking him to postpone the hearing for at least one week. Lee instead opted for two days.
Heinrich said Monday he still had 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.”
Lee said in his own statement: “To ensure transparency and uphold the integrity of this process, the committee will postpone Governor Burgum’s hearing until Thursday.”
“However, we expect [the Office of Government Ethics] to act with urgency and complete its review without further unnecessary delays,” Lee continued.
“The American people deserve a government that operates efficiently to advance their priorities, and we remain committed to ensuring these critical confirmations move forward as quickly as possible.”
