Jan. 8—President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Interior secretary is already a point of conflict in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ahead of a confirmation hearing in the committee scheduled for next week.
Committee Chair Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, issued a hearing notice to consider former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum for Interior secretary on Jan. 14, without minority party consent. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., is the committee’s ranking member and took issue with the move.
“This is a breach of protocol and precedent, established over decades by chairs of both parties,” Heinrich said in a statement.
The Interior Department maintains national parks and monuments, manages public lands and oversees many tribal programs.
Heinrich also took issue with Burgum’s failure to submit responses to a standard questionnaire, complete a financial disclosure form, get approval from the department’s ethics office and complete an FBI background check ahead of the hearing notice.
“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. … Until these steps have been completed, I will not consent to notice of nomination hearings,” Heinrich said.
Lee said it is disappointing to see Heinrich try to delay the hearing notice.
“Governor Burgum submitted his paperwork to the Office of Government Ethics last week, and the committee has the same amount of paperwork that Energy and Natural Resources Committee Democrats had in 2009 when they noticed confirmation hearings,” Lee said in a statement. “I, as chairman, have made every effort to work with our Democratic colleagues, but we won’t give in to delays that undermine the American people’s mandate.”