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Congresswoman Schakowsky statement on Senate Republicans' Unprecedented Decision to Hold Confirmation Hearings before Ethics Review

January 9, 2017

Today, Rep. Jan Schakowsky issued the following statement after Senate Republicans ignored the concerns of the Office of Government Ethics by scheduling confirmation hearings for nominees whose potential conflicts of interest have not been properly vetted and whose financial disclosures have not been submitted:

“Under Republican control, ethics are the enemy and cutting corners is the norm. One week after House Republicans tried and failed to do away with the Office of Congressional Ethics, their colleagues in the Senate have ignored the concerns of the Office of Government Ethics by going forward with confirmation hearings before the nominees have been properly vetted. This weekend, the Director of the independent Office of Government Ethics criticized rushing confirmation hearings when several of Mr. Trump’s nominees have ‘unknown or unresolved ethics issues.’

Before any of President-elect Trump’s nominees are considered, ethics paperwork and financial disclosures should be submitted in full, and Senators should be given at least three days to study the materials. Americans deserve to know that their government is working in the interest of the public and not for themselves, and there is no excuse for Senate Republicans cutting corners because nominees have failed to submit complete information on time. A full ethics review must be performed before confirmation hearings take place.

One of the hallmarks of the outgoing Obama administration has been a strict adherence to governmental ethics rules, which led to eight years without even a hint of a scandal. Now, the Trump administration is kicking off by ignoring ethics reviews and creating a scandal waiting to happen. No previous administration in modern history has acted like this to confirm their nominees. The move has been called ‘unprecedented’ by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics and must be rectified immediately.”

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