Trump must not dodge FBI checks on cabinet picks, say two former Senate counsels

Two former US Senate counsels are urging President-elect Donald Trump and officials not to avoid FBI checks for incoming cabinet picks.

The former officials made the suggestion in a New York Times op-ed published on Friday.

Some officials have suggested allowing private investigators to vet high-level nominees instead of the FBI, while some Republicans are balking at the idea, The Hill reported.

“Without nominees being scrutinized by the FBI, the danger is that neither lawmakers nor the public would know whether they are trustworthy or have issues that could compromise their ability to do the job or their loyalty to the United States,”the former counsels —Noah Bookbinder, who served as counsel for Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee from 2005 to 2013, and Gregg Nunziata, who served as a counsel for the GOP members of the committee from 2005 to 2008 — wrote in the newspaper.

As of last week, Trump’s team had not signed the necessary documents that would allow the Department of Justice to conduct background checks on the nominees, according to The Hill.

“Efforts to bypass FBI background checks and even Senate confirmation itself via mass recess appointments, made by the president when the Senate is not in session, never would have flown with past iterations of the Judiciary Committee, regardless of which party was in charge,” the men wrote. “The Senate shouldn’t stand for it now.”

Shortly after winning the election, Trump advocated for recess appointments to get his picks in sooner than usual by foregoing Senate confirmation, a process that typically involves congressional hearings. If successful, Trump could set off a constitutional crisis.

“In our time working on the Judiciary Committee, we reviewed hundreds of nominations. Many nominees, like many Americans, had minor issues — isolated drug use, fights, bad employment experiences — but most of those incidents, while not ideal, never rose to the level of further investigation,” wrote Bookbinder and Nunziata.

Several of Trump’s picks have come under scrutiny. Shortly after he won the election, Trump announced Fox News Host Pete Hegseth as his pick for secretary of defense and then-Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as his pick for US attorney general.

Both of the men have faced sexual misconduct allegations. Gaetz has been accused of having sex with a minor in 2017 and Hegseth has been accused of assaulting a woman that same year. Both men deny the allegations and any accusations of wrongdoing. Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration last week.

The writers concluded by urging officials to force the nominees to undergo the background check process before confirmation continues.

“At a time when there are fewer and fewer meaningful checks on presidential power, the need for rigorous Senate consideration of nominees is all the more important. Without it, the president and his appointees could run roughshod over the government and over Americans’ lives with no one challenging them,” the pair wrote.