President Trump has assembled the richest administration in history. With the nomination of Vincent J. Viola as secretary of the Army, Trump’s cabinet now has a combined net worth of about $13 billion and includes four billionaires. Federal ethics regulations require many of these cabinet appointees to sell off some of their investments to avoid conflicts of interest. However, cabinet members who do sell investments are allowed to keep all of the profits without paying a capital gains tax. Listen to learn more about Trump’s cabinet and then debate the benefits and drawbacks of having a very wealthy people in key government positions.
Story Length: 3:37
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January 23, 2017
3:33
The Senate is holding confirmation hearings for President-elect Trump's Cabinet choices. Democrats say majority Republicans are rushing the nominees through the process and that several of them haven't yet completed or submitted all of the financial disclosure and ethics paperwork required. Each committee holding a hearing has its own set of rules about the information it requires. Listen to hear about this push to confirm Cabinet nominees quickly.
Read MoreNovember 28, 2016
3:57
The U.S. federal anti-nepotism law prevents a public official from appointing a relative to a position in their agency. It was made a law in 1967 after President John F. Kennedy nominated his brother as Attorney General. It is also used to prevent congressmen from hiring their wives to work in their offices. President-elect Donald Trump has relied on his son-in-law as a key adviser during his campaign. If his son-in-law were given a job in the White House, it would raise legal questions around nepotism. Listen to learn more about nepotism laws in the U.S.
Read MoreOctober 24, 2016
5:09
The Supreme Court is short handed with only eight justices to do the job of resolving the important legal questions of the United States. Since February 2016 when Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died unexpectedly, the Supreme Court has been evenly divided in important cases. Under the Constitution, the Senate’s job is to confirm or reject the President’s nominee. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has promised that no Obama nominee would get a hearing or a vote and he believes the next president should select a nominee. Listen to hear more about how the presidential election may impact the next appointment to the Supreme Court.
Read MoreApril 11, 2016
4:03
A law firm in Panama that sets up shell companies for people around the world so they can hide their financial transactions recently had a huge number of documents leaked to the public. Now these world leaders, movie stars and athletes’ tax avoidance isn’t hidden anymore. Regulators in a number of countries say they will use these documents to identify illegal activity. Following the release of this story, the scandal forced the Prime Minister of Iceland to resign. Listen to this story to hear more about identifying and regulating tax avoidance schemes.
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