GOP and Dem counsels unite to demand FBI checks for Trump nominees

29 November 2024

President-elect Donald Trump has proposed bypassing FBI background checks for nominees for his incoming second administration. And some of his allies are in agreement.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), for example, told ABC News' that he didn't think FBI background checks were necessary — and that they would hamper Trump's ability to get a new administration in place as soon as possible.

But legal experts Noah Bookbinder and Gregg Nunziata have a totally different viewpoint.

In an op-ed published by the New York Times on November 29, they argue that U.S. senators should demand FBI background checks for Trump's nominees — without exception.

Bookbinder and Nunziata served as counsels for different parties when they worked with the Senate Judiciary Committee. Bookbinder represented Democrats, while Nunziata represented Republicans.

In their op-ed, Bookbinder and Nunziata lay out some reasons why they see background checks as crucial — especially for national security nominees.

"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 legal experts explain. "The Senate shouldn't stand for it now. In our time working on the Judiciary Committee, we reviewed hundreds of nominations."

Bookbinder and Nunziata add, "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."

When they worked with the Senate Judiciary Committee in the past, Bookbinder and Nunziata note, nominations were "never scheduled for Committee consideration without the Committee receiving an FBI background check, reviewing it and clearing the nomination to move forward."

"This was not merely a matter of formal process," they recall. "The nominees evaluated by the (Judiciary) Committee, if confirmed, would occupy positions of great importance; they make decisions every day that affect national security as well the lives of ordinary Americans."

Bookbinder and Nunziata stress that U.S. senators must "make clear" that they "will not consider nominations without an FBI background check."

"The two of us worked together in politically contentious times during the George W. Bush and Barack Obama Administrations, under Democratic and Republican chairmen," the legal experts recall. "The Judiciary Committee's confirmation process had a reputation for being brutal. But disagreements about nominations never extended to the background investigation. No nominee would have moved forward to a Committee hearing or vote without a meaningful review. President-elect Trump's nominees should be treated no differently."

Noah Bookbinder and Gregg Nunziata's full New York Times op-ed is available at this link (subscription required).

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