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Sometimes a barebones, very traditional-journalism kind of lede says an awful lot:
Key disclosure reports for four out of nine of Donald Trump’s nominees subject to Senate confirmation hearings this week had yet to be made public by late Monday, underscoring concerns from the Office of Government Ethics that it is being rushed to approve the documentation.
It’s going something like this.
Trump: “Here are a bunch of nominees with billions of dollars in complicated financial dealings and blatant conflicts of interest. My people have not really pre-vetted them.”
Congressional Republicans: “We will be holding hearings as early as possible.”
Office of Government Ethics: “Um … we’re working as fast as we can, okay?”
Even if all the reports are released just before the hearings, some ethics specialists said the process is too hurried for the public and senators to evaluate the information. The reports focus on potential financial conflicts of interest and agreements to divest certain holdings.
Hurried is exactly what Republicans want, of course.
So far, the hearing for education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos has been delayed for a week, and there are reports that the hearing for fast food CEO, cartoon villain, and labor secretary nominee Andy Puzder may be delayed into February.