{"id":92627,"date":"2025-01-09T17:06:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-09T22:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/?p=92627"},"modified":"2025-01-09T18:24:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T23:24:00","slug":"iowa-capital-dispatch-democrats-object-to-hearing-for-trumps-interior-nominee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/09\/iowa-capital-dispatch-democrats-object-to-hearing-for-trumps-interior-nominee\/","title":{"rendered":"Iowa Capital Dispatch: Democrats object to hearing for Trump&#8217;s Interior nominee"},"content":{"rendered":" <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/09\/iowa-capital-dispatch-democrats-object-to-hearing-for-trumps-interior-nominee\/dougburgum-2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-92629\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"1364\" data-attachment-id=\"92629\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/09\/iowa-capital-dispatch-democrats-object-to-hearing-for-trumps-interior-nominee\/dougburgum-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/09\/dougburgum.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"2048,1364\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-title=\"Doug Burgum\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Doug Burgum&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Doug Burgum, a Republican, served as governor of North Dakota from December 15, 2016 through December 15, 2024. Photo: &lt;a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/govdougburgum\/54201399187\/&gt;Doug Burgum&lt;\/a&gt;&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/09\/dougburgum.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/09\/dougburgum.jpg\" alt=\"Doug Burgum\"  class=\"size-full wp-image-92629\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"figure-caption\"> Doug Burgum, a Republican, served as governor of North Dakota from December 15, 2016 through December 15, 2024. Photo: <a href=https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/govdougburgum\/54201399187\/>Doug Burgum<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n<div class=\"h3-responsive font-weight-bold\">Democrats say U.S. Senate Republicans rushing confirmation of Interior nominee Burgum<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"date\">Thursday, January 9, 2025<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"byline\">By Jennifer Shutt, <a href=\"https:\/\/iowacapitaldispatch.com\">Iowa Capital Dispatch<\/a> <\/div>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <p>WASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Senate Democrats raised concerns Wednesday that Republicans have scheduled a hearing for one of President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s nominees before he completed the necessary paperwork and an FBI background check.<\/p><p>Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Martin Heinrich separately criticized the decision, saying it sets a troubling precedent.<\/p><p>\u201cYesterday, the Chairman of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources noticed a hearing for Governor Doug Burgum to serve as the next secretary of the Interior, without minority consent, as has long been standard practice,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.c-span.org\/clip\/us-senate\/user-clip-sen-chuck-schumer-d-new-york-on-trump-nominees\/5148441\">Schumer said during<\/a> a floor speech. \u201cSenate Democrats on the committee expressed reasonable objections to proceeding to this hearing, because the committee has not yet received basic information on Governor Burgum\u2019s background.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">You have to wonder what Republicans are trying to hide when they try to rush nominees through.<br><br>Americans need to know what kind of people are going to serve in Trump\u2019s Cabinet. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/VI7pZH8jmU\">https:\/\/t.co\/VI7pZH8jmU<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenSchumer\/status\/1877094974463889719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 8, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\r\n<p>Heinrich, a New Mexico Democrat, released a written statement that he was extremely disappointed Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, chairman of the committee, scheduled the hearing for Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota.<\/p><p>\u201cThe Senate has a constitutional duty to advise and, if it determines, consent to the President\u2019s nominees. This requires careful consideration of each nominee,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/NativeVote\/2025\/01\/08\/sen-martin-heinrich-d-new-mexico-objects-to-confirmation-hearing-for-interior-nominee\/\">Heinrich wrote<\/a>. \u201cTo achieve this, for decades, nominees that have come before the ENR Committee have submitted responses to a standard questionnaire and a completed financial disclosure form, approval from the Department\u2019s ethics office, and completion of an FBI background check. Until these steps have been completed, I will not consent to notice of nomination hearings.<\/p><p>\u201cEvery nominee, every party, every administration should be subject to the same standards. I would urge Chairman Lee to reconsider his decision.\u201d<\/p><p>A committee spokesperson said Heinrich has not yet received confirmation the FBI completed Burgum\u2019s background check.<\/p><p>Heinrich also hasn\u2019t received Burgum\u2019s financial disclosure report, called Form 278e, or paperwork from the Office of Government Ethics saying their personnel have reviewed his financial disclosures and ethics agreements, and they believe he is in compliance with ethics laws, as required by the Ethics in Government Act, according to the spokesperson.<\/p><p>Lee in his own statement wrote that it was \u201cdisappointing to see Ranking Member Heinrich seeking to delay issuance of a hearing notice instead of focusing on delivering what voters demanded in November\u2019s election: restoring American energy dominance after years of high energy prices and policy failures.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cGovernor 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,\u201d Lee wrote. \u201cI, as chairman, have made every effort to work with our Democratic colleagues, but we won\u2019t give in to delays that undermine the American people\u2019s mandate. It\u2019s time to move forward and focus on solutions that will unleash America\u2019s full energy potential, and I hope Democrats will work with us to deliver results for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_indianz-com\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/08\/senate-committees-schedule-slew-of-confirmation-hearings-for-donald-trump-nominees\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/08\/dougburgum.jpg\" alt=\"Senate committees schedule slew of confirmation hearings for Donald Trump nominees\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/08\/senate-committees-schedule-slew-of-confirmation-hearings-for-donald-trump-nominees\/\">\n\t\t\tSenate committees schedule slew of confirmation hearings for Donald Trump nominees\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2025\/01\/08\/senate-committees-schedule-slew-of-confirmation-hearings-for-donald-trump-nominees\/\">\n\t\t\t<p>Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate are vowing to move quickly on president-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s cabinet picks.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"Indianz.Com\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tIndianz.Com\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">Burgum hearing anticipated next week<\/div><p>Burgum\u2019s hearing is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m., making it one of the first hearings for any of Trump\u2019s nominees. Trump\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/northdakotamonitor.com\/2024\/11\/14\/trump-expected-to-tap-north-dakota-gov-doug-burgum-to-be-secretary-of-interior\/\">announced in November<\/a> that he wanted Burgum, who ended his second term as North Dakota\u2019s governor in December, to lead the Interior Department.<\/p><p>Burgum, 68, graduated from North Dakota State University in 1978 before going on to attend Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he received a master\u2019s of business administration in 1980.<\/p><p>He worked at Great Plains Software, becoming CEO before Microsoft bought the company in 2001. Burgum then worked as senior vice president for that company until 2007. A year later, he co-founded venture capital firm Arthur Ventures.<\/p><p>Yahoo Finance\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/finance.yahoo.com\/news\/rich-wealthiest-governors-150108514.html\">estimated in 2002<\/a> that Burgum\u2019s net worth was approximately $1.1 billion.<\/p><p>Burgum was first elected as governor of North Dakota in 2016 with 76.5% of the vote and then reelected in 2020 with 65.8%.<\/p><p>Other confirmation hearings scheduled for Tuesday include a Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee hearing for former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, whom\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/georgia-lawmakers-focused-vets-hope-trump-va-nominee-collins-will-improve-agencys-support\">Trump plans to nominate for VA secretary<\/a>, and an Armed Services Committee hearing for Pete Hegseth, whom\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/trump-picks-fox-news-host-run-pentagon-tulsi-gabbard-head-national-intelligence\">Trump wants to lead the Department of Defense<\/a>.<\/p><p>The confirmation process is expected to continue Wednesday with hearings for Trump\u2019s pick for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/trump-readies-mass-deportations-reported-pick-noem-homeland-security-chief\">Homeland Security secretary, Kristi Noem<\/a> of South Dakota, in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; his selection for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/trump-picks-fox-news-host-run-pentagon-tulsi-gabbard-head-national-intelligence\">secretary of State, Marco Rubio<\/a> of Florida, in the Foreign Relations Committee; and the pick for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/new-trump-budget-chief-wrote-project-2025s-agenda-empowering-presidency\">Office of Management and Budget director, Russ Vought<\/a>, in the Homeland Security committee.<\/p><p>Others are likely to be scheduled in the days and weeks ahead, but the Senate cannot take floor votes on the nominees until after Trump takes the oath of office on January 20.<\/p>\r\n<div class=\"embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\">\r\n<div class=\" content_cards_card content_cards_domain_youtu-be\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"content_cards_image\">\n\t\t\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_image_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lYP7hUOESqA\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/08\/maxresdefault-244.jpg\" alt=\"Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Trump&#039;s nominees\">\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_title\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_title_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lYP7hUOESqA\">\n\t\t\tSen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Trump&#8217;s nominees\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_description\">\n\t\t<a class=\"content_cards_description_link\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lYP7hUOESqA\">\n\t\t\t<p>Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York), the Democratic minority leader in the U.S. Senate, questions whether Republicans are trying to rush president-elect Donald T&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\t<div class=\"content_cards_site_name\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/s\/desktop\/5a9b4a4e\/img\/favicon.ico\" alt=\"YouTube\" class=\"content_cards_favicon\"\/>\t\tYouTube\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<figcaption class=\"figure-caption\">C-SPAN Video: <a href=https:\/\/youtu.be\/lYP7hUOESqA>Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Trump&#8217;s nominees<\/a>\r\n<\/figcaption>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n<div class=\"h5-responsive sub\">No hearing yet for RFK Jr.<\/div><p>Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Bill Cassidy said during a brief interview earlier this week he didn\u2019t know when he would begin committee hearings with Trump\u2019s nominees for public health agencies, like the National Institutes of Health or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, since they hadn\u2019t yet completed their paperwork and background checks.<\/p><p>The Louisiana Republican said he hoped to begin those hearings before the end of January, but wasn\u2019t sure if that would be possible.<\/p><p>\u201cThe only reason I hesitate is because, obviously, we have other hearings and I\u2019m not sure if everything \u2026 that we need to receive, we have received. So partly, this is outside my hands,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p><p>Other committees, he said, were also waiting on paperwork and background checks from some of Trump\u2019s nominees before scheduling hearings.<\/p><p>\u201cI know other committees have had issues that they\u2019ve not yet received everything they need to receive, in which case I don\u2019t control that process,\u201d Cassidy said.<\/p><p>The ongoing outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as bird flu, or H5N1, is one reason Cassidy gave for why he wants to quickly confirm public health nominees.<\/p><p>\u201cWell, H5N1 is serious, absolutely. And, of course, you want to get people in there, you want it to be the right person, on and on and on,\u201d Cassidy said. \u201cSo I think we proceed with all due haste.\u201d<\/p><p>Louisiana\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lailluminator.com\/2025\/01\/06\/avian-flu-louisiana\/\">reported the country\u2019s first human death related to the ongoing bird flu outbreak<\/a> on Monday, shortly after Cassidy gave his comments about the confirmation process.<\/p><p>Cassidy met on Wednesday with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsfromthestates.com\/article\/trump-taps-vaccine-skeptic-rfk-jr-lead-department-health-and-human-services\">Trump\u2019s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary<\/a>, in the senator\u2019s Capitol Hill office, a typical part of the nomination process.<\/p><p>Cassidy, a physician who earned his medical degree from Louisiana State University Medical School in 1983,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenBillCassidy\/status\/1877039738005098978\">wrote on social media<\/a> afterward that he had \u201ca frank conversation\u201d with Kennedy.<\/p><p>\u201cWe spoke about vaccines at length,\u201d Cassidy wrote. \u201cLooking forward to the hearings in HELP and Finance.\u201d<\/p><p><em>Ariana Figueroa contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p><p>Last updated 3:13 p.m., January 8, 2025<\/p><style> figure, .tipContainer, .socContainer, .subscribeShortcodeContainer, .donateContainer {display:none !important;} .youtubeContainer { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; padding-top: 30px; height: 0; overflow: hidden; margin-bottom:12px; } .youtubeContainer iframe, .video-container object, .video-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100% !important; height: 100%; margin: 12px 0px !important; } .newsroomSidebar {width:35%;max-width:35%;padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;float:right;margin-left:50px;} .snrsInfoboxSubContainer {padding:10px;border-top:solid 2px black;background-color:#d3d3d3;} .halfwidth {float:right;width:50%;max-width:50%;} .indent2Container {margin-left: 1em;margin-bottom:1em; border-left: solid 1px black;padding-left: 2em;} @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) {.newsroomSidebar {max-width:95%;width:95%;margin-left:4%} .halfwidth {float:none;width:100%;max-width:100%;} }<\/style>\r\n<HR>\r\n<P><strong>This story originally appeared on <a href=\"https:\/\/iowacapitaldispatch.com\/2025\/01\/08\/dc\/democrats-say-u-s-senate-republicans-rushing-confirmation-of-interior-nominee-burgum\/\">Iowa Capital Dispatch on January 8, 2025<\/a>. It is published under a Creative Commons license (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/\">CC BY-ND 4.0<\/a>).<\/strong><\/P>\r\n<p><\/p>\r\n <p><a href=\"https:\/\/iowacapitaldispatch.com\">Iowa Capital Dispatch<\/a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: <a href=\"mailto:info@iowacapitaldispatch.com\">info@iowacapitaldispatch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n<HR>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats say they haven&#8217;t received even basic information about Doug Burgum, who is seeking to lead the Department of the Interior.","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1,14],"tags":[5366,1227,373,686,346,698,94,336,1254,118,75,5748,5841,100,248,5866,116,1375,2224,308,531,167,34,333,302,1386,5689,85,5032,5851,91,98,1059,508,234,1112],"class_list":["post-92627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-politics","tag-119th","tag-bill-cassidy","tag-cdc","tag-chuck-schumer","tag-dc","tag-defense","tag-democrats","tag-dhs","tag-dod","tag-doi","tag-donald-trump","tag-doug-burgum","tag-doug-collins","tag-fbi","tag-hhs","tag-iowa-capital-dispatch","tag-kristi-noem","tag-louisiana","tag-marco-rubio","tag-martin-heinrich","tag-mike-lee","tag-new-mexico","tag-new-york","tag-nih","tag-north-dakota","tag-omb","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-republicans","tag-robert-kennedy","tag-russell-vought","tag-senate","tag-south-dakota","tag-state","tag-utah","tag-va","tag-white-house","no-wpautop"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcoJ7g-o5Z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/09\/dougburgum.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92627"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92721,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92627\/revisions\/92721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}