Confirmation delays are piling up for Trump nominees as paperwork lags behind federal offices
Several newly elected presidents Donald Trump Elections for his second Cabinet term have seen scheduled confirmation hearings delayed, with Senate committees citing unfinished documents.
Hearings for Doug Collins, the nominee for Veterans Affairs Secretary, and former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has been tapped for Interior Secretary, are scheduled for Tuesday as part of Trump’s transition team and an ambitious effort by Senate Republicans to confirm Trump’s cabinet.
However, they were postponed at the last minute. This meant that two of the three hearings scheduled for Tuesday were postponed, leaving only one hearing for the election of the Minister of Defense Pete Hegseth that day.
Some of President-elect Donald Trump’s candidates, such as Govs. Doug Burgum, left, and Kristi Noem, had their confirmation hearing postponed. (Getty Images)
As new confirmation hearings took shape Wednesday — including those for Energy Secretary Chris Wright, attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, CIA Director nominee John Ratcliffe, transportation secretary nominee Sean Duffy and secretary of state nominee Marco Rubio — another key hearing for Trump’s secretary to the governor, Kristi Noem, RS.D., the homeland security nominee, has been postponed.
According to a familiar source, Noem completed all the necessary paperwork on time, but the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is still waiting for the FBI’s part.
Despite moving the hearings, the Trump transition says there will be no delay in confirming his team. “There are no delays and paperwork is being filed quickly to ensure the confirmation process runs smoothly and President Trump can implement his agenda as determined by the American people on day one,” said Taylor Rogers, a spokesman for the Trump-Vance transition. statement.
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President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Governor Kristi Noem to lead DHS. (Getty Images)
Each of the postponed hearings was given a new date, Burgum’s on Thursday, and Noem’s on Friday. However, Collins’ hearing will not take place until the day after Trump’s inauguration, next Tuesday.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee had not received the FBI’s report on Collins as of Monday afternoon, Fox News was told. All other necessary documentation was still forwarded to the commission.
A board aide told Fox News that the delay was not Collins’ fault, stressing that he submitted everything on time.
“Congressman Doug Collins submitted all of his paperwork on time and was transparent and open with the committee,” committee chairman Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said in a statement Monday. “At this time, the FBI has not completed its usual background check on Congressman Collins. Consistent with longstanding practice, the committee should have the opportunity to review Congressman Collins’ FBI file prior to his confirmation hearing. I expect the FBI to complete its review quickly so that the committee can proceed with with its role of evaluating the president’s candidate.”
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Rep. Doug Collins’ hearing for Tuesday has been postponed. (Erin Scott-Pool via Getty Images)
The week-long delayed hearings join others that have yet to be noted or scheduled by committee chairs, such as those for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, United Nations ambassador nominee Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Agriculture Secretary nominee Brooke Rollins, among others.
Republicans have blamed red tape for paperwork delays, as documents have been identified as the reason confirmation hearings are delayed or not scheduled.
A source familiar with the matter told Fox News that Senate Republicans and the Trump transition are doing what they can, but with two recent snow days for the federal government, document processing has fallen victim to red tape.
The FBI seal is on display at the podium before a news conference at the agency’s headquarters in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)
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According to a Senate Democratic source, Trump will have difficulty trying to confirm the nominations on his inauguration day. “We know he wants to do it, but it’s going to be challenging given the delays,” they told Fox News Digital.
The wait for paperwork has been “frustrating,” a GOP source on one committee told Fox News Digital. The committees also had difficulty trying to connect with the US Office of Government Ethics regarding the candidate’s documents. The source added that sometimes it seemed that the media had more information than the commission itself.
