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Donald Trump’s choice of Rep. Matt Gaetz as his attorney general nominee blindsided Republican senators on Wednesday, raising serious questions about whether the pugnacious congressman can be confirmed.
Trump’s selection of Gaetz, who’s the subject of an ongoing House ethics committee investigation stemming from allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use, literally raised the eyebrows of stunned senators as they heard the news. But it wasn’t the only unconventional nomination Trump rolled out in recent hours: The president-elect also tapped Fox News host and veteran Pete Hegseth to be his defense secretary and Tulsi Gabbard to be his national intelligence director.
The trio of choices, all of whom face notable confirmation challenges, point to a tough road ahead as Republican senators try to coordinate with Trump.
Several GOP senators are already acknowledging their concerns with Gaetz, who orchestrated the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year and was investigated for sex trafficking by the same Justice Department he now hopes to lead.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., said Gaetz’s plot to oust McCarthy “is concerning to me” and noted that “FBI and background checks are pretty intense for an attorney general.”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that “I’m all about counting votes, and I would think he’s probably got his work cut out for him.”
Republicans had generally praised Trump’s picks earlier this week, including Sen. Marco Rubio for the Secretary of State position and Rep. Elise Stefanik to be the ambassador to the United Nations. But Republicans were notably less effusive when asked about Hegseth, Gaetz and Gabbard; several appeared to be unaware that those nominations had been announced.
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The Florida congressman’s path will be initially determined by likely Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who did not give any thoughts on Gaetz specifically, nor did he say whether he knew the pick was coming.
Several of Gaetz’s House GOP colleagues aired similar sentiments to Republican senators — and some were far more bluntly critical of Trump’s pick.
“Rep. Matt Gaetz is under ethics investigations by the House Ethics Committee. He would be a compromised AG,” said Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif. “There are better choices.”
A person familiar with Trump’s thinking said that the nomination of Gabbard, a former Democrat who campaigned with the president-elect, has been in the works for a while. Intelligence directors typically get large bipartisan Senate votes; Gabbard, who has taken a warm approach in the past toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is very unlikely to achieve that.
“Of course they can be confirmed, otherwise they wouldn’t have been chosen,” the person familiar with Trump’s thinking said of Gabbard and Gaetz. “We’re always in touch with multiple elected officials.”
Any nominee will need a simple majority to be confirmed, in committee and on the Senate floor. On partisan votes like Gaetz’s expected roll call, that will mean Republicans can lose three votes with a 53-seat majority.
“The president’s going to make bold decisions and appointments, and I’m looking forward to the hearings,” said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, who will take over as the GOP whip in January.
Burgess’s view
Republicans are unlikely to block too many of Trump’s more controversial picks; doing so would invite a huge intraparty conflict right at the start of his administration.
But it’s also hard to see a world where he gets all of them through. Presidents usually lose at least one of their top nominees.
And Trump still hasn’t said where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. might land.
Shelby Talcott and Kadia Goba contributed.