Some Senators ‘Shocked’ by Matt Gaetz’s Selection – But Republican Party Chooses AG to Avoid Angering Trump

Just like any other so-called autocrat, president-elect Donald Trump selects people for key positions overseeing the military and judicial systems not on the basis of objective merit, but on the basis of their personal loyalty to one man: in this case a 78-year-old Republican who felt betrayed during his first term when he was more or less qualified Cabinet officials would refuse some of his more extreme demands. This time, he says with his early choices, there will be no one who will guess the leader or, in the words of his son, think they “know betterthen a man with the nuclear codes.

The lecture from former representative Matt GaetzR-Fla., who resigned from Congress on Wednesday, is the clearest sign yet that Trump plans to rule as an authoritarian who will use all the state’s resources to harass his critics and outspoken opponents. Gaetz graduated from William & Mary Law School but has no other experience that would indicate he is qualified to lead the Justice Department.

“Matt will end the armed government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations and restore Americans’ shattered faith and trust in the Justice Department,” Trump said. proclaimed.

There is no shortage of right-wing lawyers eager to serve as attorney general and doing just that. Ken Paxton, currently the attorney general of Texas, would have been a perfect MAGA choice: in 2020, he sued to disenfranchise those who voted for President Joe Biden in an effort to put the loser of that year’s election to keep power; Since then, he has sued the Biden administration no fewer than 100 times and used his office to go after groups provide assistance to immigrants; he is right raids ordered on the homes of his political opponents, including an 87-year-old member of a Latino civil rights group whom he baselessly accused of voter fraud.

Gaetz, however, is unsurpassed in his sycophancy. Elected in 2016, he has perhaps wrapped himself in the Trump flag more than any other member of Congress, past or present, even boasting that he met his wife at Mar-a-Lago, where he is a fixture. He’s also been compromised: Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, accused Gaetz of having sex with a 17-year-old and the department he is supposed to lead investigated him for sex trafficking, with witnesses say that the former lawmaker attended drug-fueled parties with underage girls (he was never charged with a crime).

The House Ethics Committee had also investigated the allegations against Gaetz and was expected to release its findings this week. By nominating Gaetz, and then resigning from Congress, Trump helped a loyalist avoid potential embarrassment, if not worse: Since Gaetz is no longer a member of the House of Representatives, the House can no longer issue a report on him.

Having an attorney general with so much potentially compromising dirt on him could be an advantage, while saying “no” to someone would be difficult and could ruin you. It’s also a test, intentional or not: How loyal is the rest of the Republican Party?

As a man, Gaetz seems to be universally loathed by his former colleagues, given how many are willing to publicly criticize him. The man “is literally worse than the gum on the bottom of my shoe,” Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, told CNN on Wednesday. Former Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., also called the choice “absurd,” says Gaetz’s selection — along with the appointment of former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, as director of national intelligence — indicates Trump is filling his Cabinet with “Putinists and pedophiles.”

But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., took a different tone. Gaetz, he claimed, was a “experienced lawyer,” despite his meager legal resume, and “a reformer in his mind and heart.”

“I think he will bring a lot to the table,” the Louisiana Republican said.

But in the Senate, lawmakers’ opinions really matter. It is the Senate and its narrow Republican majority that will have to confirm Trump’s cabinet choices (although Trump is also urging his allies to simply let him appoint people to his cabinet through break appointments). The reception on Wednesday was fresh.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said she “shockedThe appointment was said to confirm the need for the Senate to uphold its constitutional duty to provide “advice and consent.” Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, accused Gaetz of simply “not a serious candidate.” Those are two votes that are already questionable; Trump can’t afford to lose two more.

But there were also immediate signs that Republicans might be willing to put aside their doubts and hand their president-elect a victory. Last year, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., said accused Gaetz on showing his fellow lawmakers videos of “girls he’d slept with,” saying he “bragged about how he was going to crush the ED meds and go after it with an energy drink so he could spend the whole could go on through the night.’

On Wednesday? Mullin said he was open to voting for someone he had previously described as a shameless pervert.

“You know, Matt Gaetz and I, there’s no question that we’ve had our disagreements,” Mullin told CNN. “However, I fully trust President Trump’s decision-making on this matter,” he continued, saying only that Gaetz should address any concerns during his confirmation hearings.

But would Republicans, who have just seen their leader defeat all state contenders and narrowly win the popular vote, be willing to derail a second Trump presidency — and provoke his ire — by essentially denying him one of his most important Cabinet picks? ? Like Axios put it Thursday: “President-elect Trump challenges Senate Republicans to defy him.”

Those senators are likely familiar with how defying Trump turned out for Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, who is now heading toward retirement. In 2024, the skepticism that might previously have lasted an entire news cycle evaporates the same day. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for example, wasn’t sold on Gaetz as of Wednesday morning: “I’ll have to think about that,” he told CNN. Wednesday night, on Fox News, Graham was collect the troops: “To every Republican: give Matt a chance.”

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Graham, who similarly criticized Trump before learning to love the MAGA movement, knows how important this choice is for his party’s leader. And Trump chose Gaetz for good reason, as an advisor to the newly elected president explained to Marc Caputo of The Bulwark.

“None of the lawyers had what Trump wants, and they didn’t talk like Gaetz,” the adviser said of the battle for attorney general. “Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for an appointment as a judge. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional nonsense. Gaetz was the only one who said, “Yeah, I’m going to go out there and start cutting off some damn heads.”

It is possible that the Republican-led Senate will hold confirmation hearings and ultimately decide to defy their president and reject his choice to take on the “Deep State” and its many “enemies from within.” Perhaps Gaetz, now out of a job, will have to settle for a position that doesn’t require Senate confirmation — or an appearance on Newsmax.

But after almost a decade, anyone who bet good money on elected Republicans opposing Trump is already bankrupt.