The confirmation hearing for Interior Department nominee Doug Burgum was postponed for two days after opposition from Democrats over a lack of documentation.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Mike Lee (R-Utah) said in a statement that he was postponing the hearing, citing administrative delays.
“In order to ensure transparency and maintain the integrity of this process, the committee will postpone Governor Burgum's hearing until Thursday,” Lee said.
He added that Burgum submitted the documents “promptly” and blamed the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) for the delay.
“Despite his compliance and the realization that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee held the hearing in accordance with all regulations, OGE has yet to complete its review. This bureaucratic delay is unacceptable.” he wrote.
A spokesperson for the Office of Government Ethics declined to discuss Mr. Burgum's specific case, but instructed The Hill: Documents on the website The past two presidential transitions have shown that filings started earlier on average.
The delay comes after Sen. Martin Heinrich (New Mexico), the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee, accused Republican lawmakers of violating protocol by holding a hearing before the documents were received. It was done.
On Monday, ahead of Lee's announcement, Democratic lawmakers on the committee requested a delay of at least one weeksaid in a letter to the chairman that it had not yet received documents containing Burkum's financial disclosures and ethics agreement.
“Given the fact that the Commission does not yet have these documents, which are essential for the Commission to faithfully carry out its constitutional advice and consent responsibilities, we would like to cancel the scheduled public hearing on Governor Burgum’s nomination. “We respectfully request that you postpone at least a certain period of time,” they wrote, “to allow sufficient time for members to receive and review these materials.”
