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WASHINGTON (CN) — Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday that Democrats would blockade the confirmation of the Trump administration’s Justice Department nominees until lawmakers get more information about reports that the White House could accept a multimillion-dollar jet as a gift from the government of Qatar.
News broke Sunday that the Trump administration might take the gift, a Boeing 747-8 jet, from Qatar and that Attorney General Pam Bondi had deemed that the transfer would not violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which blocks presidents from accepting certain gifts from foreign governments without the consent of Congress.
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that the plane would be retrofitted for use as Air Force One during President Donald Trump’s remaining years in office. The deal was reportedly going to be made public this week.
Lawmakers, particularly Democrats, are up in arms that the White House might accept such a high-value gift from a foreign country. They’ve also slammed Bondi’s involvement in the potential transfer — the attorney general was once a registered lobbyist on behalf of Qatar.
And in a speech on the Senate floor Tuesday morning, Schumer rolled out his party’s retort.
Calling the potential deal “so corrupt that even Putin would give a double take,” the top Senate Democrat said that he would implement a hold on all of the White House’s nominees for political appointments at the Justice Department “until we get more answers.”
“This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat,” said Schumer.
In the Senate, most administration nominees must clear a procedural hurdle known as cloture before they proceed to a confirmation vote. For certain presidential nominees, the mechanism requires a 51-vote majority to pass — the current party breakdown of the upper chamber means that the Republican majority does not need Democratic support to approve cloture. But Democrats could pull levers to slow the process down.
Democrats’ hold could likely affect several Trump nominees currently making their way through the Senate Judiciary Committee. The panel is set to vote this week on the White House’s appointment to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration and the U.S. Marshals Service.
It’s unclear whether U.S. attorneys, who are political appointees under the Justice Department, would also be subject to Democrats’ hold. The Senate typically confirms U.S. attorneys via voice vote — Democratic objections could derail that process.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday slammed Schumer’s move. Maine Senator Susan Collins told reporters on Capitol Hill that she didn’t think that holding up Trump nominees was “an appropriate response” to concerns that Qatar’s gift violated emoluments restrictions.
“The lawyers are going to have a look at the issues involving a gift from a foreign government,” she said.
And North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis called the hold “predictable political antics,” pointing out that Schumer has already announced his own blockade on a pair of the president’s nominees for New York U.S. attorney positions.
“He was just finding a convenient reason,” said Tillis. “He’s been wanting to do that for quite some time.”
Tillis cast doubt on the idea that Trump’s acceptance of a jet from Qatar would violate the emoluments clause, but questioned why the White House would need a new plane anyway.
“In a world of DOGE, why can’t we make do with what we already have?” he told reporters. “Maybe we can sell it on eBay and write a check to Treasury.”
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, meanwhile, offered a curt response to Schumer’s hold, saying Republicans “shouldn’t be surprised” because the GOP had taken similar steps against Democratic nominees. It’s unclear exactly to what the senator was referring to, but Senate Republicans blockaded former President Joe Biden’s nominees on several occasions — most notably a hold on U.S. attorney appointments spearheaded by now-Vice President JD Vance.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the White House had not formally announced whether it would accept the luxury jet as a gift from Qatar. If the president decides to take the plane, reports have said that he would use it as his primary form of air transportation until just before his term is up.
At that point, the aircraft would be transferred to his presidential library foundation for private use.
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