Opinion | F.B.I. Checks of Trump Nominees Are Critical for the Nation’s Security

For several years, we were the Republican and Democratic counsels who reviewed presidential nominees’ background checks for the Senate Judiciary Committee. We know how the confirmation process is supposed to work and how important F.B.I. vetting is to that process. That’s why we’re appalled by reports that the new Republican-led Senate and the incoming Trump administration may dispense with it.

Without nominees being scrutinized by the F.B.I., the danger is that neither lawmakers nor the public would know whether they are trustworthy or have issues that could compromise their ability to do the job or their loyalty to the United States.

Efforts to bypass F.B.I. background checks and even Senate confirmation itself via mass recess appointments, made by the president when the Senate is not in session, never would have flown with past iterations of the Judiciary Committee, regardless of which party was in charge. The Senate shouldn’t stand for it now.

In our time working on the Judiciary Committee, we reviewed hundreds of nominations. Many nominees, like many Americans, had minor issues — isolated drug use, fights, bad employment experiences — but most of those incidents, while not ideal, never rose to the level of further investigation. When there were more significant issues, we handled them together, Democrats and Republicans, confidentially, so there would never be a question of our using people’s backgrounds for partisan gain. Once we had answered any outstanding questions, it was up to the senators to decide whether the information would affect their votes.

This was key: A nomination was never scheduled for committee consideration without the committee receiving an F.B.I. background check, reviewing it and clearing the nomination to move forward.

This was not merely a matter of formal process. The nominees evaluated by the committee, if confirmed, would occupy positions of great importance; they make decisions every day that affect national security as well the lives of ordinary Americans. Those decisions include who is charged with crimes, who goes to prison, how the legal system and justice system work, and how we treat civil rights and environmental laws.