According to people close with his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump has been calling for support for Matt Gaetz, his choice to head the Justice Department, who is already encountering resistance from certain Republican senators.
According to a transition official, Trump has been actively contacting Republican senators to solicit their support for Gaetz.
In a separate post on X, the former Twitter, vice president-elect JD Vance said he was assisting Trump in interviewing people, including to lead the FBI. Later, the tweet was removed. Chris Wray, the current head of the FBI, is ready for the potential that the president-elect may try to replace him, even though his tenure doesn’t end until 2027, ten years after Trump appointed him.
Voting against Biden’s judicial candidates who are still awaiting confirmation, Vance was in the Capitol on Tuesday. He will return on Wednesday to speak with other senators who support Trump’s candidates, including as Gaetz and his planned defense secretary nominee, Pete Hegseth.
Gaetz was named Trump’s choice almost a week ago. Gaetz was not charged with any charges despite being the focus of a federal investigation into sex offenses. Concerns regarding the reliability of two important witnesses or a lack of concrete proof linking Gaetz—who has denied any wrongdoing—caused the investigation to halt. One of those witnesses’ attorneys has stepped forward to provide the House Ethics Committee with specifics of their testimony.
According to the transition official, they were aware from the beginning that it would be difficult to persuade the Senate to approve Gaetz and that a concerted effort would be made to have him confirmed. According to the insider, Trump’s transition team is aware that Gaetz is by far the most difficult confirmation to secure.
The transition official said, “This whole thing is going to be an uphill battle,” when Trump first contacted Gaetz to tell the then-congressman that he intended to nominate him as attorney general. According to the official, Trump informed Gaetz he wanted to fight it.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by the Trump transition.
The worst-case scenario, according to the transition team, is that Sen. John Thune, the newly elected Senate Majority leader for the incoming congress, supports a letter disagreeing with Gaetz’s selection that is co-signed by other Republican senators.
Gaetz himself has called several Republican senators to discuss the nomination, according to several senators.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-ND, claimed that Trump personally called him and urged him to back Gaetz. Trump has gained the support of the electorate and is consistently convincing. “As the process progresses, I’m still skeptical but open,” Cramer stated.
Trump has mapped out a swift schedule of nominations to forward once he assumes office, following his overwhelming election victory.
Trump is selecting his cabinet far more quickly than he did in 2016. Trump stated Tuesday that he would appoint 28 high-level officials to his new administration, including his Director of National Intelligence and National Security Adviser, as well as the heads of the departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, and Commerce. Trump had only named three since winning the presidency for the first time on November 19, 2016.
Additionally, Trump is choosing more quickly than Biden, who selected White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain as his first pick just over a week after Election Day 2020. Two days after the election this year, Trump named Susie Wiles as his top choice for White House Chief of Staff.
According to a transition official, Trump is scheduled to meet with former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday morning to discuss the potential of him returning in the same capacity. According to the official, Carson and Trump are in constant contact and it is anticipated that Carson will be named Trump’s choice for the position shortly.
Trump’s choice to head the Treasury Department, a prestigious cabinet position, is yet unknown. Elon Musk, the billionaire who was just appointed to lead a new Department of Government Efficiency and is frequently seen at Mar-a-Lago, offered his thoughts on the choice over the weekend.
Musk had extended the pool of possible applicants by endorsing Howard Lutnick, a wealthy financial services executive and important transition aide who Trump chose on Tuesday for the top Commerce position.
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