Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has delayed the confirmation of Justice Department nominees as he calls for transparency regarding President Trump's acceptance of a $400 million jet from Qatar. Schumer criticizes this as corrupt and demands a probe from the Department's Foreign Agent Registration Act unit. He raises national security concerns, suggesting that accepting the aircraft constitutes a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. Despite Schumerâs hold, GOP senators could still confirm nominees with a majority vote, while Trump promotes the aircraft as a free gift to the Defense Department.
Schumer announced the move in a Senate floor speech Tuesday, slamming the president for celebrating the "palace in the sky" gift as "so corrupt that even [Russian President Vladimir] Putin would give a double-take."
"How is this gift not naked corruption?" the New York senator added, referencing multi-billion dollar deals for the Trump Organization to build a golf course in Qatar and a hotel and residential skyscraper in Dubai.
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