{"id":317793,"date":"2017-04-02T20:38:57","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T02:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=317793"},"modified":"2017-04-02T20:38:57","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T02:38:57","slug":"how-the-trump-administration-responds-to-democrats-demands-for-information-it-doesnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2017\/04\/how-the-trump-administration-responds-to-democrats-demands-for-information-it-doesnt\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Trump Administration responds to Democrats\u2019 demands for information: It doesn\u2019t."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_72372\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/gageskidmore\/5440990018\/in\/photolist-9hNuLJ-9hKrun-9hHqDv-9hLwdw-9hNwso-9hHpJr-9hLx6s-9hLwSC-9hKpTt-9hKraP-9hNwi1-9hKp4g-9hNvWh-HkLZL-2oQiC-9KUYs-9hLxAs-9VjNra-9KD2oX-qu7Gu-9rmBGH-9VT6fh-uooUsi-5RhK99-9hNwCN-9hKpmZ-9hNvfQ-9hKrPH-9hNvzC-9hKoVK-9hKrkx-9u7qjZ-9rd77n-xRyc1-9rknN8-5KnqeT-9rphtQ-9wtCb2-9uayT3-9FTZtY-fNcrqH-vPTJzZ-6Rnrkd-5Dd1xc-bXt9R-4r8psj-vGv8u-uT5y6P-vMTbLN-9DncXb\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-72372 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-771x494.jpg\" alt=\"Donald Trump\" width=\"771\" height=\"494\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-771x494.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-336x215.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-768x493.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-1170x750.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald-780x500.jpg 780w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/Trump-Donald.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Gage Skidmore \/ Creative Commons<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">President Donald Trump (<a href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/2.0\/\" target=\"_blank\">photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When billionaire investor Wilbur Ross was going through the confirmation process to become President Trump\u2019s commerce secretary, Senate Democrats wanted answers about Ross\u2019 role as the vice chairman of the Bank of Cyprus, which has <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/news\/politics-government\/article121981259.html\" target=\"_blank\">significant dealings<\/a> with Russian oligarchs.<\/p>\n<p>The administration\u2019s answer: crickets.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-left half type-aside\">\n<h3>About this article<\/h3>\n<p>This article comes from\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/how-the-trump-administration-responds-to-democrats-demands-for-information\" target=\"_blank\">ProPublica<\/a>, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newsroom.\u00a0Sign up for their\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.propublica.org\/forms\/newsletter_daily_email\" target=\"_blank\">newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Ross\u2019 handlers had initially assured Commerce committee staff that Ross would respond to their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3526092-02-16-17-BN-RB-EM-CB-TU-TB-Letter-to-Ross-Re.html\" target=\"_blank\">Feb. 16 questions<\/a>, according to a congressional staffer. But a response never came.<\/p>\n<p>The White House was sitting on Ross\u2019 written answers and refusing to hand them over, as Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mcclatchydc.com\/news\/politics-government\/congress\/article135343334.html\" target=\"_blank\">complained<\/a> in a floor speech. <strong>\u201c<\/strong>It is behavior that everyone in this Senate should agree is unacceptable and should not be tolerated,\u201d Nelson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/congressional-record\/2017\/2\/27\/senate-section\/article\/s1428-1?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22ross%22%5D%7D&amp;r=2\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and other senators sent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3526090-2-24-17-Letter-to-Wilbur-Ross-on-Russian-Ties.html\" target=\"_blank\">two<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3526091-03102017-Letter-Commerce-SecretaryRoss.html\" target=\"_blank\">more<\/a> letters. The administration still hasn\u2019t responded.<\/p>\n<p>A Commerce spokesman declined to answer our request for an explanation.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of response to congressional letters is part of a pattern. Virtually every day, Democrats write the Trump administration demanding answers on a range of issues. And every day they are met with the sounds of silence.<\/p>\n<p>The recent unanswered letters include: a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3513188-2017-03-08-Letter-on-Kushner-Recusals.html\" target=\"_blank\">request<\/a> from senators asking for details on Jared Kushner\u2019s conflicts of interest; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3525651-Letter-on-Executive-Order.html\" target=\"_blank\">another<\/a> asking how agencies will implement Trump-ordered changes to Obamacare; and a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3525653-Combined-Transition-Staffing-Letters.html\" target=\"_blank\">third<\/a> asking for details on officials the administration has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/meet-hundreds-of-officials-trump-has-quietly-installed-across-government\" target=\"_blank\">quietly installed<\/a> in so-called beachhead teams across the government.<\/p>\n<p>A recent, informal <a href=\"https:\/\/sarbanes.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/internal-audit-finds-president-trump-and-congressional-republicans\" target=\"_blank\">audit<\/a> by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., found 100 letters that went unanswered as of mid-March, though not all of them made clear requests for information. \u201cThese findings confirm what many feared: The Trump Administration has little regard for transparent government,\u201d Sarbanes said in a statement.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>A Sarbanes spokesman said the audit found just a small handful of letters that did receive responses, such as <a href=\"http:\/\/langevin.house.gov\/press-release\/langevin-voices-opposition-charlestown-rail-realignment\" target=\"_blank\">one<\/a> sent to the Federal Railroad Administration and <a href=\"https:\/\/debbiedingell.house.gov\/media-center\/press-releases\/dingell-raises-concerns-about-safety-need-public-input-nexus-pipeline\" target=\"_blank\">another<\/a> related to a pipeline issue.<\/p>\n<p>The reasons for the lack of responses aren\u2019t clear.<\/p>\n<p>It could be another symptom of the president not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/03\/12\/us\/politics\/trump-administration.html?_r=0\" target=\"_blank\">filling top jobs<\/a> across the government.<\/p>\n<p>Trump, for example, hasn\u2019t nominated anyone for 12 out of the 13 Senate-confirmable leadership spots at congressional affairs offices throughout the government, according to a Washington Post jobs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/graphics\/politics\/trump-administration-appointee-tracker\/database\/\" target=\"_blank\">tracker<\/a>. The Department of Education and the Department of Defense, for example, both have open spots.<\/p>\n<p>Those offices handle congressional requests ranging from minor constituent issues to politically charged demands for documents.<\/p>\n<p>The White House didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>Other jobs have also gone unfulfilled below the Senate-confirmed level. At the Department of Labor, for example, the office of congressional affairs\u2019 website previously listed <a href=\"https:\/\/web-beta.archive.org\/web\/20161221072634\/https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/ocia\/contact.htm\" target=\"_blank\">around 15<\/a> politically appointed staffers. It now lists <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dol.gov\/ocia\/contact.htm\" target=\"_blank\">none<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The agency didn\u2019t respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<p>The lack of responses also shows a hard truth for Democrats: As the minority in both the House and the Senate, they have no clear authority to compel the Trump administration to answer questions or release documents. \u201cNo ranking minority members or individual members can start official committee investigations, hold hearings, [or] issue subpoenas,\u201d notes a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/3523612-WhenCongressComesCalling.html#document\/p67\" target=\"_blank\">guide<\/a> to investigations by Morton Rosenberg, a veteran staffer of the Congressional Research Service.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s difficult to compare Trump\u2019s record to that of the Obama administration since there\u2019s no hard data on responsiveness to congressional requests. But Republicans say Obama was also less than responsive to their requests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt usually took months of persistence to get responses.\u00a0Sometimes a response never came, and even when it did, the Obama Administration rarely fully answered the questions,\u201d said Jill Gerber, a spokeswoman for Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.<\/p>\n<p>While practices vary agency to agency, there has always been a pecking order in whose letters get quick responses, with subpoena-wielding committee chairs at the top and members of the president\u2019s party typically getting preference.<\/p>\n<p>Yet at least some Obama-era congressional affairs offices had policies of responding to letters from any member of Congress.<\/p>\n<p>At the Labor Department, for example, there was a policy of providing a response to all letters from the Hill, regardless of the party of who was asking, according to a former agency official who handled congressional affairs. But response times could take months, depending on the nature of the letter and whether, for example, a response needed to be approved by another agency.<\/p>\n<p>The General Services Administration, which handles procurement for the government, also had a policy of answering all correspondence from the Hill, regardless of the party or the member it came from, according to a former agency official. The policy was to respond within 25 business days.<\/p>\n<div class=\"note note-related\">\n<p><em>Reporting contributed by Jesse Eisinger.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Congressional Democrats\u2019 letters to the Trump administration are going unanswered.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72372,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[706,116],"class_list":["post-317793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-transparency","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}