U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., says many of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet picks are wealthy insiders.
He wants the Senate to amend rules that would force all nominees to release at least three years of tax returns.
Blumenthal says citizens deserve to know that their government is working for them and not on behalf of corporations and special interests.
“There are at least three billionaires among them. Almost all are millionaires. They have ties to special interests and corporations, some of them foreign governments,” Blumenthal says.
The move follows Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns during his campaign. This broke with a long tradition of presidential candidates revealing the information.
Currently, only select Senate committees can require presidential nominees to produce tax returns – something Blumenthal says Democrats will seek to change in the next session.