Rep. Darrell Issa said he is concerned that Donald Trump will be inaugurated without having his Cabinet nominees confirmed.
“The vast majority of the Cabinet has not been confirmed, and that’s very, very concerning,” he said Friday on CNN’s “New Day.”
Democratic lawmakers have said one reason the hearing process has taken as long as it has is because Trump nominated unorthodox picks.
Issa called the picks “very, very interesting.”
“This is 50% a normal cabinet and this is 50%, I would say, very, very interesting picks,” the California Republican said. He said it’s unusual for billionaires to be willing to serve. “As a matter of fact, I can’t name one. This is a first to have multiple extremely rich people.”
Issa defended Rep. Tom Price, Trump’s pick for health secretary. Lawmakers have called for an investigation of Price after CNN reported that the Georgia Republican bought up to $15,000 worth of stock in Zimmer Biomet, a medical device maker. Price had introduced a measure that would have directly benefited the company. And one week after he bought the stock, he put in a measure that would have delayed a new regulation that would have hurt the company.
“Ethics questions are always called by one side more than the other and there are concerns and that explains some of the individuals,” Issa said. “Some of them like Congressman Price, there’s no question that his trades were legal.”
“You can have a discussion about it, but the fact is he did nothing wrong.”