Schumer rips Trump over ‘slap-dash’ nominee vetting

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday blasted the Trump administration over its handling of nominations, saying its vetting has been a “slap-dash process.”

“This Trump administration has done the worst job of vetting their nominees of any administration I can remember. It seems a slap-dash process,” Schumer said.

President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, is under fire amid new allegations of professional misconduct. The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

“How did he get through the process with all of these allegations not even being made public? My guess: not proper vetting,” Schumer said.

“More than ever — more than ever with this president — it’s the Senate’s job to advise and consent, not be a rubber stamp,” he added.

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Schumer separately declined to say if he believed Jackson should withdraw his nomination, noting he would wait to see if the allegations are substantiated.

“There are so many allegations most of which have not been made public yet but [are] very serious. I’ll wait to see if those are corroborated,” he told reporters on Tuesday. 

Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) also told CNN on Tuesday that Congress should vet Trump’s nominees.

“The really unfortunate thing here is the Trump administration never does the vetting, then it’s up to the Congress. We should do the vetting.”

Udall added that if the allegations against Jackson, who is the White House physician to the president, are proven, “he’s got serious problems in terms of taking over this agency.”

Trump on Tuesday gave Jackson cover if he wants to withdraw his nomination, saying repeatedly that the choice to withdraw was Jackson’s. But Trump during a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron also questioned why Jackson would want to go forward and take the “abuse” from politicians.

The kerfuffle over Jackson’s nomination comes as Republicans are poised to move forward with a proposal to cut down on debate time for hundreds of Trump’s nominees.

The proposal, from Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), is set to get a vote in the Rules Committee on Wednesday.

– Ben Kamisar contributed to this report, which was updated at 3:13 p.m.