Trump choosing Gaetz for Attorney General draws backlash from both sides
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Rep. Matt Gaetz speaks on stage on the third day of the RNC on July 17 in Milwaukee. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
President-elect Trump's intent to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to serve as attorney general has stunned lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and set up a tough confirmation battle in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Why it matters: Trump's selection of Gaetz was his middle finger to critics but also ensured that the head of the Justice Department would be someone willing to impose his more controversial policies.
- Trump has backed the use of recess appointments to green-light the more disputable nominees to his Cabinet, allowing him to at least temporarily circumvent the Senate opposition.
The big picture: Gaetz joins a swath of other pro-Trump firebrands and disruptors that make up Trump's "island of misfit toys" picks for Cabinet or White House jobs, many of whom will test the loyalty of Republicans as they seek to help Trump reshape key federal agencies.
- Gaetz, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2016, is a Trump loyalist who supported Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
State of play: Gaetz resigned from Congress abruptly Wednesday hours after Trump's announcement, effectively ending a wide-ranging probe by the House Ethics Committee over alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
- The Ethics Committee had been set to vote this week on the release of a "highly damaging" report on its investigation into Gaetz, Punchbowl News reported.
- Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has called on the committee to release the report regardless.
If appointed, Gaetz will head the Justice Department, which last year decided not bring to charges against him over sex trafficking allegations, including that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl.
- Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
Republicans
Republicans who are in or out of elected office have come out against Gaetz's nomination, underscoring the deep aversion many members of his own party have for him.
- Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) told Bloomberg that all of Trump's nominations had been good "except one ... Gaetz won't get confirmed, everybody knows that."
- John Bolton, Trump's former national security adviser who's become a critic, told NBC News that Gaetz was "totally incompetent for this job" and a "person of moral turpitude."
- "Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the Senate," Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) told Axios. He called it "a reckless pick."
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said she didn't think it was a "serious nomination for the attorney general."
- Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.) told Axios Gaetz would be "a compromised AG."
Democrats
Democrats likewise haven't minced their words when it comes to the question of Gaetz becoming attorney general.
- Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told Axios that Gaetz's nomination, alongside Tulsi Gabbard's for director of national intelligence, "signal a lot of chaos and incompetency to come."
- "This is insanity," Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) said.
- Durbin wrote on X that Gaetz "would be a disaster as the next Attorney General of the United States."
- Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN that Gaetz was "dangerously unqualified," before adding that "this is going to be a red alert moment for American democracy."
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