Think Progress: Democrats Boycott Hearings of Two Cabinet Nominees, Demand the Truth

By Laurel Raymond:

Democrats said they were motivated to blocking the vote by reports in recent days that contradict the nominees’ sworn testimony before the committees. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) specifically said that Trump’s nominees had lied to senators in their confirmation hearings.

“We’re not going to this committee today because we want the committee to regroup, get the information, have these two nominees come back in front of the committee, clarify what they lied about — I would hope they’d apologize for that — and then give us the information that we all need for our states,” Brown told reporters.

In recent days, reporters have uncovered evidence that Mnuchin misled Senators in his hearing and in his written responses regarding foreclosures by OneWest Bank while he was the company’s chief executive.

“We need to know what in fact he did with OneWest, what his past is, what his connections are, and we just need to know it before we decide are we voting for him and if he is in fact qualified,” Brown said.

In his hearing, Mnuchin denied that OneWest used “robo-signers,” a practice where employees at financial firms sign foreclosure documents en masse. The Columbus Dispatch reported on Sunday that in an analysis of nearly four dozen foreclosure cases in Ohio, OneWest “frequently used robo-signers.”

Brown also noted that, as treasury secretary, Mnuchin would have immense control over the banking industry, including the future of Dodd-Frank — the banking reform regulation enacted under the Obama administration after the 2008 financial crisis. Trump slammed the regulation as a “disaster” on Monday and vowed to “do a big number” on it.

Senators’ cited lingering questions about Tom Price’s testimony as well. During his hearings before the Finance Committee and the Committee on Health and Human Services, Democrats grilled Price about his investments. While Price served in Congress and crafted legislation that could have massive effects on the biomedical industry, Price repeatedly made lucrative stock investments in the biomedical field.

The Full Story (January 31, 2017)