Schumer is vowing to hold up Justice Department nominees for answers about luxury plane from Qatar
Schumer is vowing to hold up Justice Department nominees for answers about luxury plane from Qatar
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday that he will hold up all Department of Justice nominations on the Senate floor until he gets more answers about the free Air Force One replacement that President Donald Trump says would be donated by Qatar.
Trump said this week that he wants to accept the $400 million plane, and that it would later be donated to a presidential library. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News on Monday that the details of the donation are still being worked out.
The plan, Schumer said, “is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat.”
Schumer said he wants answers from Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Trump administration about whether it is investigating activities inside the United States by Qatari foreign agents that could benefit Trump or his business. He also wants to know if Qatar will be responsible for adding security measures to the plane and how it will be built and paid for.
“The Attorney General 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,” Schumer said.
Democrats have expressed uniform outrage about the potential foreign gift and many Republicans are uneasy about the plan, as well. Returning to Washington on Monday evening, senators in both parties questioned how the deal would work and stressed the importance of following federal laws that govern how a U.S. president can accept gifts from foreign countries.
“We need to look at the constitutionality of it,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who said she’d be concerned about possible spying devices installed on the plane. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma said that Trump had said he would follow the law, and “that’s the right answer.”
Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky said Trump shouldn’t accept the jet. “I don’t think it looks good or smells good,” Paul said. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said he’d prefer “a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America.”
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma was one of the few senators defending the deal. “Why would we care if another country wanted to give the United States a gift?” he asked.
Schumer’s holds mean that the Senate can’t quickly confirm any of Trump’s Justice Department nominees. Many lower level nominations, such as U.S. attorneys, are often approved in groups by voice vote.
Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Chris Coons of Delaware and Cory Booker of New Jersey also have said they will call for a vote this week to reaffirm the “basic principle” that public servants should not take foreign gifts for personal gain.
Murphy said in a floor speech Tuesday that Trump’s corruption is “wildly public” and that his hope is that “by doing it publicly, he can con the American people into thinking it’s not corruption because he’s not hiding it.”
Coons raised security concerns.
“The Trojan Horse was a gift, too,” he posted on X.
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Associated Press writers Matt Brown, Leah Askarinam and Chris Megerian contributed to this report.
By MARY CLARE JALONICK
Associated Press
