Today, Donald Trump announced he is nominating scandal plagued, election denying MAGA extremist Matt Gaetz to serve as his Attorney General – signaling that he is deadly serious about pardoning insurrectionists and prosecuting his political enemies.
Gaetz has been one of the most radical members of congress and a devoted Trump loyalist. Trump has repeatedly sworn to use the Department of Justice and the U.S. military to go after his political enemies and critics. Gaetz has also called to abolish the very agency he would be leading after they investigated him in a sex trafficking investigation. If Matt Gaetz is confirmed to serve as the next Attorney General, our democracy and the rule of law will be under a grave threat.
REACTIONS FROM CONGRESS
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK): “We need a serious attorney general. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. ….This one was not on my bingo card.”
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID): When asked if Matt Gaetz had the character to be Attorney General, Simpson reportedly responded, “Are you shitting me? No.”
Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA): When asked about Matt Gaetz, Ernst reportedly dodged the question, pivoting to praising another candidate who was rumored to be on the short list for Attorney General, “I’m a huge Matt Whitaker fan.”
Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): “I was shocked by the announcement. That shows why the advice and consent process is so important, and I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.”
Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA): Grassley was reportedly, “so exasperated by Gaetz questions that he stopped talking to reporters & stood there stomefaced [sic] for 30 seconds.”
Anonymous Top Senate Republican: “Many of President Trump’s selections so far have been just what the American people asked for. But nominating Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General would be a significant mistake because he will not have the votes to be confirmed. It’s clear a lot of us hope the President-Elect reconsiders.”
Rep. John Duarte (R-CA): “Matt Gaetz is under an ethics investigation and would be a compromised AG. There are better choices.”
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH): “Zero percent chance he gets through the Senate. It’s a reckless pick, but I’m happy that he’s out of the House, or will be soon.”
Anonymous House Republican: The reaction in the House Republican conference meeting when the nomination was announced was described as “stunned and disgusted.”
House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-MS): “My reaction…was surprised. His name was not someone that I had heard and, to my knowledge, any other members of our conference had heard.”
STORIES
Axios: Republicans “Stunned And Disgusted” As Trump Taps Matt Gaetz For AG.
- “Former President Trump shocked and appalled some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday by announcing plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general. Why it matters: Republican reaction to even Trump’s most controversial nominations has been muted so far, but placing the scandal-prone right-winger in the nation’s highest law enforcement role is a step too far for many. ‘We wanted him out of the House … this isn’t what we were thinking,’ quipped one House Republican.”
- “What they’re saying: Many of Gaetz’s own colleagues in the House GOP took the rare step of going on the record to disparage him, underscoring the depth of animosity towards him even among Republicans.”
- “What we’re hearing: Trump’s announcement was met with audible gasps by House Republicans during a conference meeting on Wednesday afternoon, multiple sources in the room told Axios. […] The bottom line: Even Gaetz’s allies concede he will have a tough time clinching the job.”
Politico: ‘Reckless Pick’: Lawmakers Express Doubts That Gaetz Can Get Confirmed As Attorney General.
- “One of the most closely watched swing votes, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), said she doesn’t ‘think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general.’ Another, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), told reporters she was ‘shocked’ by Gaetz’s selection. ‘That shows why the advice and consent process is so important,’ she added. ‘Obviously, the president has the right to nominate whomever he wishes, but I’m certain there will be a lot of questions.’”
Mother Jones: Trump to Nominate Sycophant and Famously Bad Lawyer Matt Gaetz for Attorney General.
- “As my colleague Stephanie Mencimer wrote in a 2019 profile, the Florida Republican has made something of a political career trolling everyone from food stamp recipients to Michael Cohen. Gaetz’s controversial career, which he largely secured thanks to family connections, gave way to becoming a staunch Trump loyalist and all-around suck-up. ‘Matt Gaetz is living proof that Veep was less parody and more prophecy,’ as Steve Schmidt said. But as he now sits on the cusp of becoming the next attorney general under a White House threatening to prosecute its enemies—from Nancy Pelosi to the media—it’s also worth noting that Gaetz is a terrible lawyer.”
The New Republic: Trump Picks Literally Worst Person You Know for Attorney General.
- “Gaetz has been a staunch supporter of Trump, showing up to the president-elect’s New York hush-money trial in May and leaping to Trump’s defense in media appearances. But, he also has a questionable reputation, having escaped federal charges over allegations of sexual misconduct with an underage girl. Gaetz is the target of a House Ethics Committee investigation over those allegations as well as reports of illicit drug use. The Florida representative led the effort to oust former Representative Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership in part because he wished to block the ethics probe. If he were to survive Senate confirmation and become attorney general, the ethics investigation would disappear.”
- “While Gaetz has a law degree as well as an active law license, he does not appear to have any prosecutorial experience, which might be another obstacle in his confirmation process.”
BACKGROUND ON GAETZ
Matt Gaetz Is A Threat To Democracy: Rep. Matt Gaetz voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election and signed a brief supporting Texas’s lawsuit seeking to throw out the election results in key states. The scandal-plagued Gaetz is one of Donald Trump’s biggest defenders, embracing every conspiracy theory about the 2020 election. On November 30, 2020, Gaetz went on Fox News and claimed, “There are circumstances where in the middle of the night, tens of thousands of ballots were appearing in states like Michigan where Biden was getting a higher percentage of the vote than Bashar al-Assad and Kim Jong-il in their elections… there was obvious funny business going on.” In December, he told a Turning Point USA rally, he was “joining the fighters” and would object to certification of the Electoral College. On January 6 immediately after the attack on the Capitol, Gaetz went to the House floor and claimed that the people who breached the Capitol were actually “members of the violent terrorist group Antifa.” He was also one of only 12 Republicans to vote against honoring the law enforcement officers who protected the Capitol on January 6. According to testimony to the January 6 committee, Gaetz was one of the members of Congress who sought a pardon from Trump for his role in attempting to overturn the election. Gaetz is under ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and drug abuse. Even members of his own party have launched blistering critiques of Gaetz’s character and allegations that he is connected to the sex trafficking of a 17 year old girl.
Matt Gaetz Spent the 119th Congress As One of the Most Extreme MAGA Republicans In The House. Throughout the 119th Congress, Gaetz has been one of the most extreme MAGA loyalists in the House. Gaetz invited an accused murderer to lead the pledge at the first House Judiciary Committee hearing of the new session of Congress, and he nominated Donald Trump for Speaker of the House after Kevin McCarthy’s expulsion. In 2024, Gaetz traveled to New York to back Donald Trump in his criminal trial and tweeted an allusion to the Proud Boys “standing back and standing by” while he was there and also sponsored a non-binding resolution in February 2024 proclaiming that “former President Donald J. Trump did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or give aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.” In retaliation for Trump’s investigations by law enforcement, Gaetz repeatedly called to defund law enforcement agencies like the FBI, DOJ, and ATF, despite previously denouncing calls to defund the police as “dangerous and deadly.”