As senators prepare to consider President-elect Donald Trump's picks for his Cabinet , they may be doing so without a well-established staple of the confirmation process an FBI background check.
The Trump transition team has so far not signed the requisite agreements with the White House or the Justice Department to allow the FBI to screen his personnel choices, both for the process of obtaining security clearances and meeting the Senate's usual standards for nominations.
That means the Senate could be asked to vote on Trump's picks without the usual rigorous background checking meant to uncover personal problems, criminal histories or other red flags that would raise questions about a nominee's suitability for the job. There already are questions about problematic issues related to a number of the people Trump wants in his administration.
"There are very real liabilities on the security side if you don't get this right," said Dan Meyer, a Washington lawyer at the Tully Rinckey law firm who specializes in background checks, security clearances and federal employment law.
At issue is a memorandum of understanding under which a president - or in this case, an incoming one - submits requests for name and background checks and the FBI commits to flagging to the White House any adverse information uncovered during the process.
