Chuck Schumer Pauses All Political DOJ Appointments Over Trump Accepting Qatar Plane: 'Corrupt Deal'

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Tuesday that Democrats are set to pause all political appointees in the Department of Justice over President Donald Trump's decision to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar to use as the Air Force One.

"I'm about to go to the floor to announce I am holding up all political DOJ appointments until we get answers to this corrupt deal between Donald Trump and the Qataris over his plane," Schumer said in a post on X.

Trump has defended the decision, saying the plane is a gift to the Department of Defense and not to him personally. He then dismissed suggestions that the arrangement raises ethical or constitutional concerns.

"They're giving us a free jet," said Trump when asked about the aircraft. "I could say no, no, I want to pay you $400 million, or I could say 'thank you very much," he said before repeatedly characterizing a potential refusal to accept the offer as "stupid." He also cited delays in Boeing's delivery of the next Air Force One as a justification for accepting the gift and said he would "never be one to turn down that kind of offer."

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the legal details behind the gift are "still being worked out," adding that "any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law, and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency, and we will continue to do that," as reported by Reuters.

Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres is already seeking a probe into the matter. Axios reported that Torres has already written to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), the acting Department of Defense inspector general and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) regarding the matter.

Some Republicans and MAGA figures have also criticized the decision. Senator Rand Paul said "it's not worth the appearance of impropriety" and noted the "Constitution in article 2 talks about how the president can't take emoluments or gifts from foreign leaders."

Speaking on Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime, Paul added that "the question is if you can only do this for official purposes." "If it came to someone in Congress they can vote and the Ethics Committee can look at it. With this there will have to be some kind of adjudication. This has never been done and it's not like a ride on the plane, it's the entire $400 million dollar plane. I think it's not worth the appearance of impropriety. whether it's improper or not. I don't think it's worth it."

MAGA figures Ben Shapiro and Laura Loomer add to the list, with the former saying "taking sacks of goodies from people who support Hamas, Muslim Brotherhood, Al Jazeera, all the rest, that's not America First." "I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade," said the latter.