Hi friends,
Reaching out to update you on the #SwampCabinet Nomination process and what to look for in the days ahead. The Senate will come into session today at 12pm to continue debate Betsy DeVos’ nomination for Secretary of Education. A vote on DeVos is anticipated tomorrow, followed by consideration of and votes on Sen. Jeff Sessions (US Attorney General Nominee), Rep. Tom Price (US Secretary of Health and Human Services) and Steve Mnuchin (Director of OMB Nominee) spread out through the rest of the week.
All of these nominees exemplify the broken promises that Trump made to the American people on the campaign trail. These cabinet secretaries will be charged with carrying out and enforcing the laws written by Congress, and we need to make certain they are qualified, capable and without conflict to lead the departments for which they have been nominated.
In the last few weeks, these nominees have received more scrutiny, as Democrats have successfully pushed back hearings and boycotted committee votes due to these nominees’ conflicts of interest and misleading statements reported on here:
MNUCHIN:
WaPo – Trump’s treasury nominee defends foreclosure practices, ties to offshore entities
Treasury secretary nominee Steven T. Mnuchin defended his ties to offshore business entities and his management of a controversial California bank during a testy confirmation hearing on Thursday.
Speaking before the Senate Finance committee, Mnuchin said businesses in the Cayman Islands and Anguilla revealed in his financial disclosures were not used for his personal benefit but served nonprofits and pensions. A memo compiled by Democratic committee staffers obtained by The Washington Post showed Mnuchin initially omitted some of those entities — as well as more than $100 million in personal assets — from his nomination paperwork. Mnuchin has revised the documents.
Mnuchin is one of several Cabinet nominees facing a rocky path to confirmation. Democrats have seized on the vast wealth amassed by Trump’s advisers — not just Mnuchin but also his picks to lead the Commerce, Education and State departments, among others — as undermining the working-class support that fueled the president-elect’s surprise victory.
PRICE:
WSJ – Rep. Tom Price Got Privileged, Discounted Offer on Biomedical Stock, Company Says’
Rep. Tom Price got a privileged offer to buy a biomedical stock at a discount, the company’s officials said, contrary to his congressional testimony this month.
The Georgia Republican tapped by President Donald Trump to be secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services testified in his Senate confirmation hearings on Jan. 18 and 24 that the discounted shares he bought in Innate Immunotherapeutics Ltd., an Australian medical biotechnology company, “were available to every single individual that was an investor at the time.”
In fact, the cabinet nominee was one of fewer than 20 U.S. investors who were invited last year to buy discounted shares of the company—an opportunity that, for Mr. Price, arose from an invitation from a company director and fellow congressmen. The shares were discounted 12% off the traded price in mid-June only for investors who participated in a private placement arranged to raise money to complete a clinical trial. The company’s shares have tripled since the offering.
Below are videos that we are asking you to share these #SwampCabinet nominees:
DEVOS
· Betsy DeVos fails U.S. Senator Tim Kaine’s Test. TWITTER FACEBOOK
· Senator Chris Murphy (CT) asks Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos, “Do you think that guns have any place in or around schools?” Check out her answer for yourself. TWITTER FACEBOOK
· Senator Sanders asks Education nominee Betsy DeVos about billionaires who “control to a significant degree our economic and political life.” TWITTER FACEBOOK
PRICE
· ICYMI: Senator Bill Nelson questioned HHS Nominee Tom Price yesterday on his stance that covering American’s with pre-existing conditions is a “terrible idea.” FACEBOOK
· Morning Joe Calls on Republicans to Show “Some Spine” on Price Ethics Problems TWITTER FACEBOOK
· Murray and Franken questioned Pres-Elect Donald Trump’s HHS Secretary nominee Rep. Tom Price on health-related investments he made. FACEBOOK
MNUCHIN
· Video: When the Housing Market Crashed, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Nominee Steve Mnuchin Saw an “Opportunity” to Make Himself and His Investors Even More Money TWITTER FACEBOOK
· Former prosecutor Senator Claire McCaskill takes on the Foreclosure King TWITTER FACEBOOK
