Ethics questions cloud US hearings

Rex Tillerson’s disclosure that he stands to receive a $180m (€170m) cash payout from Exxon Mobil Corp if he becomes the next US secretary of state offers a preview of thorny ethical questions that may be raised this week over a presidential cabinet stacked with tycoons.

With confirmation hearings scheduled for Mr Tillerson and eight other appointees of president-elect Donald Trump, the head of the federal office that helps ensure compliance with conflict-of-interest rules told lawmakers his agency is hard-pressed by too much work and too little time.

Walter M Shaub Jr, director of the federal Office of Government Ethics, wrote to Democratic senators that the timeframe was putting pressure on ethics officials.