Donald Trump shocked the Republican Party Wednesday night with his announcement that he will nominate Matt Gaetz as his Attorney General in a bold test of his unbridled power.
Republican senators were stunned by news that the Florida MAGA congressman was tapped for one of the top jobs in Trump’s second administration, in a sign they could try to block his confirmation.
Gaetz, 42, is the subject of an ethics investigation over allegations of sexual misconduct, bribery and drug use, which he denies, and was also the focus of unsubstantiated sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl. years.
Trump’s nomination of Gaetz sets up an immediate loyalty test days after the president-elect sent a signal to Senate leaders by demanding the power to make “recess appointments” on his own when Congress is out of town. .
It means he could name members of his cabinet without the necessary 50 votes in the Senate.
Critics are calling the decision to make Gatez attorney general a “cataclysmic” event that puts Trump’s enemies in the line of fire of the nation’s top law enforcement official.
It’s also a new test of loyalty for Senate Republicans, who chose Sen. John Thune as party leader Wednesday over MAGA-aligned Sen. Rick Scott, even after nearly all of them backed Trump’s presidential bid.
Even if Gaetz saw his nomination falter, the clash could provide cover for other controversial Trump nominees.
Trump announced his decision just minutes after issuing a statement saying he will nominate Tulsi Gabbard, who angered critics with claims about ‘biolabs’ in Ukraine, to be Director of National Intelligence. He also tapped Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the sprawling Defense Department.
The Republicans who had Gaetz’s nomination in their hands – apparently without prior consultation – revealed their surprise both through their words and their silence.
President-elect Donald Trump surprised Senate Republicans by saying he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to be attorney general.
Veteran Sen. Charles Grassley, a 91-year-old Republican from Iowa, was so “exasperated” by the questions that he stopped talking to reporters and stood stone-faced for 30 seconds, Punchbowl reported.
Grassley helped push through Trump’s 2017 tax cuts and has a long-standing interest in congressional oversight, and has been a key figure along with outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in getting the Trump’s priorities will be approved.
Another senator, John Cornyn of Texas, seemed to “taste something strange” upon hearing the news, the Hill reported, just hours after losing the race for Senate leader.
Trump’s nominations, which sent a signal of unbridled control over the party, came after Senate Republicans rejected MAGA-friendly Sen. Rick Scott of Florida as GOP leader.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “shocked” by the announcement, the Huffington Post reported. Collins was among seven Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6.
Republicans will control the Senate by a vote of 53 to 47. Despite the protests, it remains unclear whether they would or could muster the will to resist Trump on an appointment so crucial and so obviously important to the president-elect.
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who in the past made a highly incriminating statement about Gaetz, barely intervened.
Senator Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) was impassive when he received the news.
John Cornyn of Texas seemed to “taste something strange” upon hearing the news, the Hill reported, just hours after losing the race for Senate leader.
Trump announced the move after meeting with President Joe Biden at the White House and thanking him for the orderly transition.
‘We had all seen the videos he was showing on the House floor… of the girls he had slept with. “He bragged about how he would crush ED medications and combine them with an energy drink to get him through the night,” the former House member said in October 2023. Gaetz called it “a lie.”
Mullin said on CNN following news of the nomination: “Matt Gaetz and I, there’s no question we’ve had our differences.” They have been very public about it. I completely trust President Trump’s decision-making on this matter. There will be many questions that will arise. He has to answer those questions. And hopefully you will be able to answer the questions correctly. If you can, then we will go through the confirmation process.”
That seemed to leave open the possibility that he would support him.
Republicans, including Trump’s pick to be Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, have said he deserves to have his Cabinet in place.
Acting as enforcer, ultra-Trump loyalist Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) issued a televised threat to any Republican “swamp creatures” who vote against the controversial nomination.
“He deserves the team he wants around him,” the senator told Fox Business. ‘It is not for us to determine that. We have 53 votes in the Senate. We can confirm with 51. I have already seen where a couple says that we will not vote for him. Wait a minute. You are not the United States of America. You have one vote in the United States Senate, you weren’t elected president… If you want to get in the way, that’s fine, but we’re going to try to get you out of the Senate too, if you try to do that. that.’
Thanks to a rule change, Republicans can push through any Cabinet nomination with a simple majority vote, just as they can confirm Trump’s judicial nominations.
The late Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushed for the “nuclear option” to end the nomination filibuster in 2013, when Republicans were stalling Barack Obama’s nominees.
A campaign operative told DailyMail.com: “In every new administration it seems like there’s always at least one candidate who has to drop out because they don’t have the votes in the Senate, and now it looks like we won’t have to guess.” Now who plays that role this time.’
there is has already been a comment that Trump’s pressure on recess appointments indicated that his second term would be more radical than his first. One analyst, attorney Edward Whelan, called it a “terrible unconstitutional plan” by overriding the Senate’s “advice and consent,” a key check on the executive branch.
In the House, where Gaetz has friends and enemies but where he has no role in the confirmation process, there were early predictions of doom for the nomination.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) hinted at what’s at stake in a comment to Politico. ‘Are you kidding me for asking that question? No!’ He asked if Gatz had the experience and character to be AG. “But hell, you’ll print that and now they’re going to investigate me,” he added.
Rep. Max Miller, a former Trump aide, told Axios: “Gaetz has a better chance of dining with Queen Elizabeth II than he does of being confirmed by the Senate.”
Democratic senators who in their campaign called Trump a threat to democracy went into overdrive.
“He (Gaetz) has openly called for the abolition of law enforcement agencies if they do not align with conservative political priorities,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNN, calling it a “wake-up moment.” red”. for American democracy.”
‘Matt Gaetz is being nominated for one reason and one reason only. It will implement the transition of Donald Trump’s Justice Department from an agency that defends us all to an agency that is simply an arm of the White House designed to pursue and prosecute Trump’s political enemies.
‘Matt Gaetz is being nominated because he will be and is today a political agent of Donald Trump. The ramifications of this election, this election in particular, are staggering and potentially catastrophic for American democracy. “I hope some Senate Republicans see that,” he added.
The tactic also came on a day when Trump joked about running for a third term, which is prohibited by the 22nd Amendment.
Despite the fury, Trump expressed certainty about the nomination when he made it. “Matt will end armed government, secure our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans’ severely shattered faith and trust in the Department of Justice,” Trump wrote.
“On the House Judiciary Committee, which oversees the Department of Justice, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax and exposing the alarming and systemic corruption and militarization of the government,” Trump said.
The Justice Department, under President Biden, ended its investigation into Gaetz’s sex trafficking without bringing charges.