Policy on Public Release of Nomination Documents

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Unless otherwise directed by the Committee, the Chairman and Vice Chairman, or the staff director and minority staff director acting on their behalf, the public release, including posting on our Committee website, of unclassified nomination documents shall be in accordance with the following policy:

  1. The committee’s unclassified prehearing questions and the nominee’s unclassified responses to them, together with the nominee’s statement for the record, will be posted on the Committee’s website no later than the commencement of the public hearing on the nomination. If a public hearing on the nomination is not held, they shall be posted if practicable at least 48 hours prior to the Committee’s vote on the nomination. They also shall be included in the Committee’s printed hearing record.
  2. The Committee’s unclassified post-hearing questions and the nominee’s unclassified responses to them shall be reviewed by Committee staff and posted on the Committee’s website after approval by the staff director and minority staff director. These documents also shall be included in the Committee’s printed hearing record.
  3. Before any public release by the Committee of a nominee’s completed standard Questionnaire for Completion by Presidential Nominees, the nominee and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shall be asked to review the completed Questionnaire to identify any portion that should be redacted for security purposes. With the exception of the nominee’s financial disclosure form and related correspondence with the Office of Government Ethics, the completed standard Questionnaire, as redacted, shall then be posted on the Committee’s website. The redacted Questionnaire, including the nominee’s financial disclosure form and related correspondence shall be included in the Committee’s printed hearing record.
  4. With respect to the nominee’s financial disclosure form and related Office of Government Ethics correspondence, persons outside of the Senate who request access should be referred to the Office of Government Ethics or to the Committee’s printed hearing record. However, while the Committee prefers that requesters utilize the public access opportunities of the Office of Government Ethics, these materials (subject to any redactions pursuant to paragraph 3) may also be made available for inspection at the Committee with the authorization of the staff directory and minority staff director.

Approved March 2, 2009:
Dianne Feinstein, Chairman
Christopher S. Bond, Vice Chairman