Durbin Urges President-Elect Trump To Follow Precedent And Require All Nominees To Complete FBI Background Investigations
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor urging President-elect Trump to follow precedent and ensure every single Senate-confirmed nominee has undergone an FBI background investigation. Durbin has served on the Senate Judiciary Committee for over 20 years and in that time, he has voted on thousands of judicial, U.S. Attorney, U.S. Marshal, and Justice Department nominees. Regardless of party, every nominee who has gone through the committee has been required to undergo an FBI background investigation.
Durbin said, “President-elect Trump has the right to nominate his preferred candidates for Justice Department and judicial vacancies. But the Judiciary Committee plays a critical role in offering advice and consent on nominations, which includes receiving and reviewing the results of FBI background investigations. After weeks of reports that President-elect Trump planned to bypass the FBI entirely, I was relieved to hear that the Trump transition team had finally signed an agreement to allow the FBI to conduct background investigations. But I remain concerned about whether President-elect Trump will require all his appointees to undergo the process.”
The New York Times reported that, “Despite the signing of the agreement, it remains unclear whether Mr. Trump’s team plans to send the names of all officials requiring a security clearance or Senate confirmation to the F.B.I. for vetting.”
“If President-elect Trump’s nominees are not required to submit to the same FBI vetting procedures as previous nominees, it makes you wonder what they are hiding,” Durbin said. “The practice of the FBI conducting background investigations isn’t a new idea …[it] dates back 70 years to the Eisenhower Administration. And it applies to every Senate-confirmed position, including more than 1,200 positions in the executive branch, nearly 900 federal judicial nominees, 93 U.S. Attorney nominees, and 94 U.S. Marshal nominees.”
During his floor speech, Durbin highlighted an op-ed written by Noah Bookbinder and Gregg Nunziata, former Democratic and Republican counsels on the Senate Judiciary Committee who, on a bipartisan basis, reviewed hundreds of nominees’ background investigations. They wrote in the New York Times, “Without nominees being scrutinized by the F.B.I., 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.” As Mr. Bookbinder and Mr. Nunziata noted, “A nomination was never scheduled for committee consideration without the committee receiving an F.B.I. background check, reviewing it and clearing the nomination to move forward.”
Durbin continued, “By design, positions that require Senate confirmation are of great importance. These individuals make critical decisions that protect America, our national security, and affect many Americans’ lives, including who is investigated, who is charged with a crime, and how the justice system operates. It is absolutely critical that people nominated to these positions are upstanding citizens who can be trusted with sensitive life or death government information, people who will be immune to blackmail or foreign influence, and who are truly loyal to the United States.”
Durbin then called out President-elect Trump for reportedly considering using a private investigative firm to conduct background investigations of nominees.
Durbin continued, “That is unacceptable for basic reasons. First, when nominees submit their paperwork to the FBI as a part of their background investigations, they are on notice that lying or concealing material facts is a felony. The same goes for individuals who agree to speak with the FBI about nominees’ character and fitness. In comparison, there will be no penalties for misleading a private firm. Second, the FBI’s resources in determining if a nominee poses a risk far outweigh any private firm’s capabilities. Seasoned agents at FBI field offices nationwide are deployed to pull records, interview individuals, and report their findings. Finally, any private firm paid by the Trump transition team would have an unavoidable conflict of interest. They would have an incentive to clear the backgrounds of nominees so they would get more business from the transition team. By contrast, the only motive for FBI agents is honoring their oath to the Constitution.”
Durbin concluded, “It is the duty of President-elect Trump to pick nominees of his choosing. It is also the duty of the Senate under the Constitution to carefully examine the record of each nominee before this body. To fulfill our constitutional duty of advice and consent on nominations, the Judiciary Committee must continue to receive background investigations conducted by the FBI for every single nominee. We owe the American people a transparent transition of power, but that is only possible if the incoming administration follows longstanding, established practices, ensuring that the President’s nominees can be trusted in positions of power.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
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