Schumer pauses approval of DOJ nominations over proposed Qatari jet gift

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Tuesday said he would hold up U.S. Department of Justice nominations until he received answers about Qatar’s potential plan to give President Trump a jet. On the Senate floor, Schumer said accepting the luxury Boeing 747-8 as a replacement for Air Force One would be an act of corruption and posed a national security threat. Schumer asked the Justice Department to investigate connections between Trump and Qatar.

Trump in a Sunday post on Truth Social said he wanted the Defense Department to accept the plane as a temporary replacement for the 40-year-old Air Force One. He told reporters on Monday that he wouldn’t keep the $400 million Qatari jet after his presidential term. Instead, he said he’d donate it to a future Trump presidential library after it is decommissioned.

What has Qatar said about the jet? Ali Al-Ansari, Qatar’s media attaché, told the Associated Press that no final decision had been made. He saidQatar’s defense ministry and the U.S. Defense Department are both reviewing the legality of transferring the aircraft.

What’s the legal question about accepting the plane? Trump could run afoul of the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which bars officeholders from accepting gifts from foreign states without congressional approval. The legality of the gift may depend on whether the recipient is interpreted as Trump or as the Defense Department. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, has repeatedly urged Trump to take the matter to Congress. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., raised concerns in a Fox interview that accepting the gift might lead the U.S. government to turn a blind eye to Qatar’s human rights abuses.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s report on Trump’s new $142 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia.