WASHINGTON (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump deepens his choice of Former Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney GeneralRepublican senators are divided over how much information they will demand to advance his confirmation, and how much to reject Trump while demanding that his Cabinet be quickly approved once he takes office in January.
Gaetz, who is expected to begin meeting with senators this week, is an unconventional choice for the nation’s top law enforcement official, leading to a confirmation surge in the Senate, where many Republicans are deeply uncomfortable with their selection.
The Florida Republican spent his congressional career agitating against the Justice Department and has clashed a house ethics investigation about whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and tried to obstruct government investigations into his conduct. Gaetz denies the allegations.
Publicly, Republican senators say they will give Gaetz the same due process they give any other candidate. Most are reluctant to criticize him directly. But they are divided on whether to demand access to the ethics report, which the House ethics committee could choose to release after Gaetz resigned from the House last week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has positioned himself as Trump’s top ally in Congress, said last week that “I strongly request” that the Ethics Committee does not disclose the results of its investigation.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who will become Senate majority leader in January, deferred to Johnson and said Monday that the ethics report is “a House matter.” But several at his conference argued that the Senate should see the report, whether it is made public or not.
“There’s nothing about it that smells good, like saying, ‘Hey, there’s a report but none of us want to see it,’” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served in the House with Gaetz, said the ethics report is important to the Senate’s “advice and consent” function established in the Constitution. “I think the House report plays a critical role in that,” he said.
Others said the information would come out one way or another, even if it is not disclosed. “I’m going to honor President Johnson’s position,” said North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis. “I think it’s a reasonable position.”
The latent clash between the Senate, the House of Representatives and Trump could be just the first of many to come. Trump has made clear that he expects next year’s unified Republican Congress to give him wide latitude over his nominees.
Cabinet nominees have traditionally provided a deluge of documentation to Senate committees ahead of their confirmation hearings, participating in FBI background checks and completing lengthy questionnaires probing every aspect of their lives and careers. But the Trump transition has already indicated that it might not require background checks and has so far refused to sign agreements with the White House and the Justice Department to allow that process to begin.
The documentation, including criminal background checks and financial investigation, could be key for senators from both parties who have questions about Gaetz and some of Trump’s other more controversial nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Absent the traditional process, how to proceed without an FBI background check would be up to individual committee chairs, who will be under tremendous pressure from Trump and his allies to move their nominees quickly. Republican senators say they will require such documentation, but it is unclear how it could work if the Trump transition does not consent to it.
“I think if you want quick consideration of this nomination, we need to have as much transparency as possible,” said Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, who will serve as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee next year. “Because you’ve heard my colleagues, especially on the Republican side, say they have some questions.”
Alabama Sen. Roger Wicker, incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wants a traditional process involving full FBI background checks for Hegseth and the committee’s other nominees. “We should do it by the numbers,” Wicker said.
However, Democrats fear the process could become complicated or restricted as Trump puts all his pressure on Senate Republicans.
“If there is a cursory background check, as we call 20 people, that will not be appropriate,” said Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who will be the panel’s top Democrat next year. .
President Johnson made his position clear on Tuesday, telling reporters that the Senate should do its job and “sure, take a look, dig deep” and then move toward confirmation so that “the president has the team ready to do what he wants.” “what the president should do.” “The American people have elected him to do it.”
“I think President Trump is looking for people who will change the status quo,” Johnson said. “And we have a mandate in this election cycle to do that.”
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Mary Clare Jalonick and Stephen Groves, Associated Press