Senator Murkowski says Gaetz nomination is 'not serious', Trump should appeal to 'good candidates'

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) was not a “serious candidate” for U.S. attorney general, and compared his nomination to the elevation of disgraced former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) .).

“This was not on my bingo card,” Murkowski told reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t think this is a serious nomination for attorney general. We need a serious attorney general.”

President-elect Donald Trump made the shocking announcement Wednesday that he wants Gaetz, a longtime ally, to lead the Justice Department, calling him a “very gifted and tenacious lawyer.” If confirmed, Gaetz will lead the department that once investigated him on sex trafficking charges.

Gaetz resigned from Congress shortly after the announcement and ended a House Ethics Committee investigation to allegations of sexual misconduct, drug use and other improprieties.

Murkowski alluded to these allegations in comments to reporters on Wednesday.

“If I wanted to joke, I might say I’m waiting to hear George Santos’ name right now,” the senator told The New York Times. Santos was expelled from Congress last year after investigators alleged he spent thousands of dollars in campaign money on things like Botox and a website for sex workers.

“This one wasn’t on my bingo card,” Murkowski told reporters after Gaetz was nominated to become U.S. attorney general. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

She went on to say that Trump had the right to appoint who he wanted to serve in his Cabinet. But the Senate, Murkoswki added, had a duty to “determine whether these individuals in these departments have what it takes, and it is up to us to confirm them.”

“That’s why I think it’s very important that we don’t take over that role of advice and consent and that we go through the nomination process,” she told the Times. “If we get good candidates, hopefully we can go through the nomination process very easily and that will be good for the president, good for him to get his team.”

“But if you put forward choices that will actually create controversy, and not just controversy on one side of the aisle, it will take longer.”

Murkowski’s office did not immediately respond to a question about the senator’s plans for a confirmation vote.

Murkowski, a moderate Republican, is a key member of the party’s coalition, alongside moderate Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). The pair have major influence on the Republican Party’s plans in the House and have voted with the Democrats in the past, although the party’s margin – the Republicans will gain 52 or 53 seats – is likely to result in the new majority leader in the Senate, John Thune (RS.D.), a slim buffer.

Trump has urged Thune and Republicans in the House to confirm his nominations as soon as possible. The president-elect has also demanded that he be allowed to do this make ‘break appointments’ that would take effect without Senate confirmation.

“One thing is clear: we must act quickly and decisively to get the President’s Cabinet and other nominees in place as quickly as possible so that they can deliver on the mandate we must deliver, and all options are on the table to do that to achieve. happen, including recess appointments,” Thune said tweeted at X after Trump’s demand.

Senator Murkowski says Gaetz nomination is ‘not serious’, Trump should appeal to ‘good candidates’

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