Grassley: OMB Nom’s Tax Issues ‘Could Create Problems’ For Confirmation

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whose panel is responsible for vetting judicial appointments, arrives for a hearing shortly after President Barack Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland as ... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, whose panel is responsible for vetting judicial appointments, arrives for a hearing shortly after President Barack Obama announced Judge Merrick Garland as his nominee to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 16, 2016. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., repeated his steadfast opposition to holding confirmation hearing in the Judiciary Committee in President Obama’s last months in the White House and made it clear in a speech on the floor that the GOP-led Senate will not consider President Barack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, but will wait until after the next president is in place. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite) MORE LESS
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A Republican senator who sits on the committee that will consider the nomination of Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) as the director of the Office of Management and Budget said Thursday that the revelation that Mulvaney had failed to pay income tax on a household employee may “create problems” for his confirmation.

“It could create problems,” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told CNN. “I don’t know for sure, but I’ve had problems with former Cabinet people under both Republicans and Democrats where that’s either been straightened out — or if there wasn’t justification for it oppose it.”

According to CNN, he did not say whether he believed Mulvaney should withdraw.

Grassley sits on the Budget Committee, which will host hearings on Mulvaney next week. Typically a nominee is approved by the committee that holds jurisdiction over his or her agency before heading to a floor vote, but it is possible that the committee can be bypassed for a full Senate vote.

Mulvaney confessed on his Senate confirmation questionaire that he had neglected to pay more than $15,000 in payroll taxes for a household employee — reportedly a sitter for his children — between 2000 and 2004, and had since paid back taxes, according to the New York Times.

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is continuing to defend Mulvaney’s nomination.

“The fact of the matter is that nobody is more qualified and more prepared to fight to rein in Washington spending and fight for taxpayers than Mick Mulvaney,” transition spokesman John Czwartacki said in a statement, according to CNN. “Congressman Mulvaney raised the issue surrounding the care of his premature triplets immediately upon being tapped for this position, and has taken the appropriate follow-up measures.”

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