Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Tuesday that he is placing a hold on all political nominees for the Justice Department in response to President Trump’s pending acceptance of a luxury jet gifted by Qatar to serve as the next Air Force One.
It’s the first time Schumer has placed such a blanket hold as Senate Democratic leader and comes as Democrats are expressing outrage at the idea of Trump accepting the gift, valued at $400 million. The president is taking part in a four-day trip to the Middle East this week that includes a stop in Qatar, where Trump is expected to announce an arms deal with the Gulf state.
“This is not just naked corruption it is also a grave national security threat,” Schumer said in his floor remarks. “Until the American people learn the truth about this deal, I will do my part to block the galling and truly breathtaking politicization at the Department of Justice.”
The New York Democrat also called on the Department of Justice’s Foreign Agents Registration Act unit to “disclose all activities by Qatari foreign agents inside the U.S. that could benefit” from the president or his business interests.
He also laid out a number of other questions, including the state of readiness of the jet, numerous safety considerations he and some Republicans have raised, what it means for the contract between the U.S. government and Boeing, and who at the Department of Justice (DOJ) signed off on allowing such a deal to move forward and pass legal muster.
“How is this gift not naked corruption?” Schumer continued. “[Attorney General Pam Bondi] must testify before both the House and Senate to explain why gifting Donald Trump a private jet does not violate the Emoluments Clause which requires congressional approval or any other ethics laws.”
Prior to her Justice Department tenure, Bondi worked as a registered lobbyist for the Qatari government.
“Donald Trump’s business deals in the Middle East reek of crooked self-enrichment. He isn’t just blurring the line between public service and personal profit he’s erasing it,” Schumer said. “What is most chilling about this brazen bribe and national security betrayal is how openly Donald Trump is doing it. How he is lying about the need for this aircraft and the risks involved.”
According to The New York Times, three Justice Department nominees are currently awaiting confirmation votes. The hold, though, could also affect dozens more.
Trump has vociferously defended accepting the gift, saying he would be “stupid” not to take the jet, which would be transferred over to his presidential library at the conclusion of his presidential term.
However, Senate Republicans were not quick to rush to his side and indicated they have numerous concerns about the arrangement.
“I’ve spent time trying not to sell weapons to Qatar because they have human rights violations of their people,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) told Fox News on Monday night. “I really haven’t been a big fan, and I wonder if our ability to judge their human rights record would be clouded by the fact of this large gift.”
“I wouldn’t take it. That’s just me,” he added.
Others sounded a similar tune to Schumer on the safety side and wondered if they could trust the Qataris to deliver an aircraft that is up to snuff for the president.
“I’m not a fan of Qatar. They have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah and that’s a real problem,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told CNBC on Tuesday. “I also think the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems. … I certainly have concerns.”
Others were more curt.
“I’m not flying on a Qatari plane. They support Hamas,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), an ardent Trump supporter, said Monday. “I don’t know how you make it safe.”
“‘Gosh, let me give you a plane.’ I mean, that seems pretty nice, but they support Hamas, so I don’t know. I don’t know how you make it safe,” Scott continued, declining to say what Trump should do. “I don’t want the president of the United States flying on an unsafe plane.”
