Can Washington Do Without the Background Check?

It’s a Washington ritual that over the years has tripped up big-shot nominees, intimidated small-fry job-seekers, and turned countless Beltway types into character witnesses for friends and co-workers.

And now it may be on the verge of extinction.

I’m talking, of course, about the official background check, the process that has subjected appointees to FBI examination since the Eisenhower years — but which the incoming Trump administration appears keen on ignoring when it comes to the president-elect’s top picks.

Typically, incoming administrations arrange with the bureau to run background checks on nominees even before taking office. But Trump, who has a long history of hostility toward the FBI, has yet to work out such an arrangement, even as he’s nominated a number of people who appear to have significant issues. Even if they ultimately work out a deal, it may well involve a less rigorous set of protocols than the ones that have long prevailed in Washington.