We had fair warning. Last month, The New York Times reported that then-candidate Donald Trump’s advisers were telling him to skip FBI background investigations for his high-level selections for nominees. Last week, CNN, citing “people close to the transition planning,”  reported that Trump doesn’t plan to submit the names of at least some of his Cabinet-level picks for FBI vetting. Whether you’re Republican, Democrat or independent, and regardless of whether you’re energized or enraged by Trump’s controversial picks, you should be concerned about the possibility of a vetting process that’s really no process at all.

The FBI has conducted background investigations of White House nominees since at least the tenure of President Dwight Eisenhower’s time in office. Even so, there’s no law clearly mandating presidents or presidents-elect to submit their nominees and appointments to the FBI for investigation. In 1953, Eisenhower issued Executive Order (EO) 10450, calling for investigations of prospective federal employees. Yet, executive orders don’t have the full effect of a law and are only binding on the executive branch. Worse, Eisenhower’s executive order is subject to interpretation. Consider Section 2, “The head of each department and agency of the Government shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining within his department or agency an effective program to ensure that the employment and retention in employment of any civilian officer or employee within the department or agency is clearly consistent with the interests of the national security.” There’s lots of wiggle room there.