Chuck Schumer has finally had enough. He’s done with “very strong” letters.
On Tuesday, the Senate Democratic leader announced that President Donald Trump’s plan to accept a Qatari-funded luxury jet and turn it into Air Force One was so “troubling” that he was announcing “a hold on all Trump Justice Department nominees.” Schumer also wants to get answers about the gift from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who personally signed off on what Schumer called “this clearly unethical deal.”
Good. Schumer can’t completely block the appointments, but he can at least slow them down. It’s symbolic. And it’s better than nothing.
This “palace in the sky” debacle has resulted in bipartisan cringing, but it’s hardly the first time that Trump’s corruption and contempt for the law have been on display.
But why now? Why has Schumer waited for more than 100 days to flex even this limited amount of Senate muscles? Granted, this “palace in the sky” debacle has resulted in bipartisan cringing, but it’s hardly the first time that Trump and his administration’s corruption and contempt for the law have been on display.
We could start with his first week in office, when Trump issued blanket pardons for Jan. 6 rioters, including those who assaulted police officers. Or when he launched a purge of the FBI, seemingly targeting agents who had investigated his own misconduct.
Maybe that would have been a good time for Schumer to put his foot down?
Or how about when Trump suspended the enforcement of a foreign bribery ban? Or when he called for the impeachment of a federal judge who ruled against him? Or when he fired the head of the Office of Special Counsel who protects whistleblowers? Or fired the head of the Office of Government Ethics? Or fired prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot investigations?
Maybe Schumer could have drawn a red line when Trump slashed the office that prosecutes misconduct by public officials or after Trump dropped charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a move that lead to the resignation of the acting SDNY U.S. attorney and several other federal prosecutors.
A “hold” on Trump DOJ nominees? Why didn’t Schumer take that step the minute Trump made it clear he could bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the U.S. — but wasn’t going to? Or when he suggested to the president of El Salvador that he would like to send “homegrown” criminals — American citizens — to his notorious prison?
Why didn’t Schumer stand on the Senate floor and call for a halt to Trump nominations after the president issued executive orders personally targeting two critics — including Chris Krebs — who had challenged his 2020 election lies?
Where was the “hold” when Trump stripped the security clearances of law firms who had challenged him? Or when he threatened to strip licenses from media critics? Or when Elon Musk’s team reportedly accessed sensitive and protected taxpayer information as part of a plan to facilitate mass deportations?
Why didn’t Senate Democrats exercise their power to slow down Trump defense and national security appointments after his top aides were caught chatting about military action on Signal? Or how about when Trump fired six National Security Council officials after he met with far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer?
Perhaps it would have been a good idea to impose a “hold” on certain nominations after Trump refused to rule out the use of military force to seize Greenland? Or when he launched a purge of top generals, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs? Schumer did, indeed, write a “strong letter” after Trump froze billions in federal grants for Harvard. But why didn’t Schumer call for a “hold” on Trump nominees to the Department of Homeland Security after masked agents began seizing people on the streets? Or after we learned that Trump’s administration was arresting international students seemingly for little more than for writing op-eds? Schumer on the Democratic response to Trump's shakedown of Harvard: "We sent him a very strong letter just the other day asking eight very strong questions." pic.twitter.com/zDxT2qoCjR If we are looking for urgent moments that require explanations, why didn’t Schumer declare a “hold” after White House aide Stephen Miller said that administration was considering suspending habeas corpus? My point here is an obvious one, but it bears repeating. The circumstances of this Qatari gift offer a very visible symbol of Trump’s susceptibility to corruption. It is hard to miss the jumbo jet in the room. But we have seen countless other examples over the last 100 days of Trump and his administration flouting ethical guidelines, constitutional norms and legal precedent. Sen. Chris Murphy, for example, has been banging the drum about Trump’s potential $TRUMP crypto conflict of interest for months. “My hair has been on fire about the meme coin from day one,” Murphy told The Washington Post. “That is a level of corruption that is just absolutely stunning. It was already the most corrupt thing a president has ever done in the history of the United States.” And the worst part of all this, of course, is that the list of Trump’s various schemes, misdeeds and alarmingly dangerous decisions is literally growing as we speak — whether Chuck Schumer finally wants to wake up and try do something about it or not.
Charlie Sykes is an MS NOW contributor and the author of the newsletter "To the Contrary." 
