The News
Donald Trump’s transition team on Tuesday signed a memo with the Justice Department that could pave the way for background checks on, and security clearances for, his nominees.
That may not be enough for senators, mostly Democrats, who want to see all of Trump’s picks undergo FBI background checks — the typical practice for past nominees.
Some of Trump’s Cabinet nominees are opposed to submitting themselves to an FBI check until the bureau is revamped by his chosen director, two sources close to the transition team told Semafor. In addition, as of Tuesday the Trump transition team was still looking into tapping into the private sector to conduct background checks on some of its nominees.
It all adds up to a muddled answer to the question of how to ensure candidates for top Trump administration positions are fully vetted before their Senate confirmations. A Trump transition spokesman would not comment on how broadly it plans to use the FBI for background checks beyond the statement on its memo with the Justice Department.
The debate over relying on the FBI for vetting Trump nominees’ backgrounds is delicate, putting the president-elect’s team in the awkward position of relying on a law enforcement agency whose investigations into him have caused deep-seated mistrust among his allies. Despite that Trump-FBI tension, GOP senators have made clear that they don’t want to lower the current standard for congressional vetting, even if it’s not done by the FBI.
Nominees “are going to have access to very, very sensitive information, national security, especially, and they need to be vetted,” said Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb. “When you put yourself forward for these positions, the understanding is you will have to release your financial information and background checks. And I think that needs to happen.”
While the memo released Tuesday allows Trump’s team to fully rely on the FBI for checks into nominees, top Republican senators are not ruling out the use of third parties, even if it breaks precedent. Incoming Senate Republican leader John Thune of South Dakota alluded this week to the possibility of “other alternatives” to the traditional FBI probe.
The presumptive incoming Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he could sign off on a third-party check “if the resources are there.”
“I believe that it would speed things up tremendously if we have background checks. And I’ve heard a couple senators say that they didn’t want to vote for anybody that didn’t have a background check,” Grassley told Semafor. “Inside or outside, it’s got to be somebody who’s got the resources to do it.”
In this article:
Know More
If Trump’s team fully engages the FBI to vet its nominees, that risks roiling some MAGA loyalists who see the bureau as captured by anti-Trump forces.
“I won’t let the FBI shine my shoes,” one of the two sources close to the transition said.
The FBI background checks could pick back up “once the FBI is depoliticized, certainly — if it still remains” after Trump nominee Kash Patel is confirmed to overhaul it, this person added.
Still, the importance of full vetting at the start of an administration is being highlighted by recent negative reporting on defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth in particular. The Fox News host and Army veteran is facing past sexual misconduct allegations that have prompted the sort of bipartisan concern often alleviated by a background check reviewed by senators.
And if Trump’s team looks to a private company or some other agency to conduct the background checks and obtain sensitive information, that raises separate questions about how thorough the investigation can get.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said that “the problem is if you just have some non-law enforcement agency conduct background checks. They don’t have access to non-public information, and so I would like to have access to all the information we can get.”
The View From Democrats
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sent Thune a letter this week saying Democrats want to work in a bipartisan way on Trump nominees “by reviewing standard FBI background-investigation materials.”
He reiterated on Tuesday that nominees need a “full FBI investigation” for the Senate to review.
Shelby and Burgess’ View
Trump’s skepticism of the FBI under its current leadership is fairly widely held within the Republican Party — and that’s likely to help convince lawmakers to accept other background check methods during the confirmation process.
But it also raises the prospect of future administrations further watering down the Senate vetting process, which is something Republicans want to avoid.