Washington — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that he intends to place holds on President Trump’s political nominees to the Justice Department in response to a Qatari-offered jet for the president’s use, while calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to testify before Congress.
“In light of the deeply troubling news of a possible Qatari-funded Air Force One, and the reports that the attorney general personally signed off on this clearly unethical deal, I am announcing a hold on all DOJ political nominees until we get more answers,” Schumer said in remarks on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.
Mr. Trump is making his first international trip of his second term this week, where he arrived in Saudi Arabia Tuesday before visiting Qatar and the United Arab Emirates in the coming days. Meanwhile, an unprecedented offer by the royal family of Qatar to donate a jumbo jet for Mr. Trump’s exclusive use as a presidential plane has sent shockwaves through the political sphere back home.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, called the possible gift “so corrupt” that Russian President Vladimir Putin “would give a double take,” while calling it a “grave national security threat.”
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The minority leader outlined a number of requests of the Justice Department, calling on its Foreign Agent Registration Act unit to disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the U.S. that could benefit Mr. Trump or his family’s organization, while urging that the American people “deserve to know the facts.”
Schumer asked who would install security measures on the jet, how the measures would be verified, what modifications would be needed to ensure its safety, along with who would pay for the installations and how much would they cost. He also asked what Qatar is being offered in return, while calling on the attorney general to testify before the House and Senate to explain why the gift does not violate any ethics law or the emoluments clause, which prohibits government officials from accepting compensation from a foreign state without the approval of Congress.
“Until the attorney general explains her blatantly inept decision, and we get answers to these questions, I will place a hold on all political nominees to the Department of Justice,” Schumer said.
The practical impact of the holds remains unclear. The holds would be expected to slow the nominations by requiring Senate Republicans to take each procedural vote rather than moving forward with the nominees under an expedited timeframe. And Justice Department nominees aren’t voted on en bloc like military promotions, further delaying the process.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the Qatari government had “graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense,” while noting that the details were still being worked out. And the president defended accepting the gift of the plane Monday, saying “I could be a stupid person and say, oh no, we don’t want a free plane.” He added that it would “go directly” to his presidential library when he leaves office.
But Democrats have vehemently denounced the offer, while a number of Republicans have called the ethics and national security implications of the potential gift into question.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who was asked whether Mr. Trump should reject the Qatari jet, told reporters Tuesday that he didn’t know whether there had been an official offer yet. But he added that he thinks there are “lots of issues associated with that offer,” which he said should be further discussed.
contributed to this report.
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