Matt Gaetz emerges as Trump-choice Republicans are ready to move on

• Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz as US Attorney General is a controversial choice.

• Gaetz’s nomination would require Senate confirmation, which could be difficult to achieve.

• Republican lawmakers otherwise loyal to the president-elect are already pouncing on Gaetz.

Amid a series of attention-grabbing cabinet choicesPerhaps no choice has attracted more attention than the decision of newly elected President Donald Trump nominate GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as the next U.S. Attorney General.

Gaetz is a polarizing figure, even within the Republican Party.

His nomination requires Senate confirmation, and while Republicans will have a majority in the Senate, several Republican lawmakers have already indicated they are less than happy with this controversial choice.

While other nominees – such as former Democratic congressman Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence and Fox News host Piet Hegseth for Secretary of Defense – have raised eyebrows, Gaetz stands out as the one choice Republicans are eager to criticize.

Gaetz was previously subjected to allegations of sex traffickingwhich arose after the Ministry of Justice opened an investigation into him in April 2021.

Although the agency ultimately declined to press charges, Gaetz was until recently investigated by the House of Representatives Ethics Committee. However, his abrupt resignation from the House after his appointment Wednesday means the committee no longer has jurisdiction to investigate him. according to The New York Times.

Complicating his support among Republicans was also Gaetz led the charge to unseat Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives last year, a move that caused significant friction within the party.

Even some Trump loyalists have expressed surprise at the Gaetz nomination.

Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma

Mullin is a staunch Trump supporter who supported his baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election and was right rumors as a potential cabinet choice.

But that didn’t stop him from less than fully supporting the Gaetz nomination.

Appears on CNN, he said: “Matt Gaetz and I, there’s no question we’ve had our disagreements.”

While expressing confidence in “Trump’s decision-making on this,” Mullin said Gaetz should argue his case in the Senate.

“There will be a lot of questions,” he told CNN. “He has to answer those questions, and hopefully he can answer those questions well, and if he can do that, we’ll go through the confirmation process.”

Those differences refer to comments Mullin made to CNN last year around the time Gaetz filed a motion to impeach McCarthy.

Mullin said, “There’s a reason why no one in Congress came to Gaetz’s defense in the wake of the sex trafficking allegations.

He further alleged that Gaetz would brag about his sexual escapades on the House floor.

Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota

Kramer, a staunch supporter of Trump since he endorsed him in early 2016, expressed surprise at Gaetz’s nomination.

According to Ramsey Touchberry of the Washington Examiner, Cramer was surprised by the Gaetz choice.

“That’s an uff da,” said Cramer, according to Touchberry’s X post. “Huh, I don’t know what to think.”

The Minnesota Monthly describes “uff da” as “exhaustion, frustration, confusion, surprise and mild disgust.”

Answering questions from CBS News reporter Cristina Corujo, Cramer said Gaetz’s nomination was a “surprise” and an “interesting choice.”

He also said he doesn’t know Gaetz very well and thinks he has the academic credentials, but said he is concerned about the way he “handled the bickering with Speaker McCarthy. I thought it was unnecessary, I thought it was divisive.”

Senator John Cornyn of Texas

Cornyn, another trusted Trump ally, also seemed shocked by Gaetz’s choice.

According to Punchbowl News reporter Samantha Handler: he gave an “audible huff” when asked about it.

Alex Bolton, a staff writer for The Hill, said in an X post that a “surprised or shocked look” flashed across Cornyn’s face “as if he tasted something strange” when asked about Gaetz.

Cornyn told HuffPost reporter Arthur Delaney: “I don’t know the man other than his public persona.”

According to Max Cohenanother reporter for Punchbowl News, Cornyn was asked about Gaetz’s status as the subject of a House Ethics investigation.

“Well, that could come up,” Cornyn told reporters.

Representative Max Miller of Ohio

Although he may not vote on Gaetz, Miller had some nice words about his fellow Republican lawmaker.

The GOP Congressman, who has done that before praised Trump as “the greatest POTUS this country has ever had”, told CNN’s Haley Talbot that Gaetz is “a man who is literally worse than the gum on the bottom of my shoe.”

According to TalbotMiller also accused Gaetz of destroying the country, saying he “ran around here last year like a six-year-old with a loaded revolver and a happy trigger finger.”

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