Senators miss Trump nominee's ethics dossier: 'Breach of protocol'

Confirmation hearings for a slew of picks for Donald Trump's Cabinet and other top positions are scheduled to begin this week. Senate committees still have not received review materials from several nominees, and many of their financial and ethics disclosures have not yet been made public.

On Monday, with less than 24 hours left before his confirmation hearing, embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's financial disclosure and ethics agreement were finally released to the public. Disclosed forms show the former Fox News host received a $4.6 million salary from the right-wing cable news network over the past two years, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars in speaking fees for his dozens of appearances, many of which were before Conservative and religious groups.

The Senate Armed Services Committee reportedly received Hegers' FBI background check late Friday.

While the public learned Sunday that Lee Zeldin, Trump's pick for Environmental Protection Agency chief, recently made a fortune writing paid op-eds on behalf of secret clients, ethics disclosures for several other high-profile nominees have yet to be made public — though they plan to Will attend congressional hearings in the next few days. These include Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi, Transportation Secretary nominee Sean Duffy, Interior Secretary nominee Doug Burgum, Department of Homeland Security nominee Kristi Noem, CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe and Energy Secretary nominee Chris Wright.

A Democratic spokesman for the Senate Commerce Committee said of the Tamiflu material. rolling stones“The committee has not received financial or ethics documents or any information related to the FBI background investigation. We have only received his questionnaire. Holding the hearing without these materials violates long-standing agreement.”

The spokesman said delays in paperwork were not necessarily a problem, but rather that Republicans were trying to vie for Trump's nominee without standard vetting.

“These are not delays,” the spokesman said. “It takes time to complete the paperwork and review ethics and finances – often requiring additional information and materials from (the nominee). The onus lies with Republicans who tried to force a nominee through regardless of proper vetting.”

Tyler Rogers, a spokesman for the Trump-Vance transition, said the nominee's “documents are being filed quickly to ensure a smooth confirmation process and that President Trump can carry out the agenda mandated by the American people on Day One.”

Some Democratic senators have called for certain hearings to be postponed, including one scheduled for Tuesday morning for former North Dakota Gov. Burgum. On Monday, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Ranking Member Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) called on Republican leaders to delay Burgum's hearing for a week.

“The committee has still not received a standard financial disclosure report, an ethics agreement, or an opinion from a designated agency ethics officer and the Office of Government Ethics indicating that the nominee complied with ethics laws, which is required by all laws for nominees for positions requiring Senate confirmation,” ” Heinrich wrote.

He continued: “Given that the committee still does not have these documents, which are critical to the faithful discharge of our constitutional advice and consent responsibilities, we respectfully request that you postpone the scheduled hearing on Burgum’s nomination for governor for at least one week in order to Allow members sufficient time to receive and review these materials.”