The obstacles President-elect Donald Trump may have in his efforts to transform his campaign of retaliation into a governing coalition that can function within the confines of Washington are exemplified by Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal on Thursday as a candidate for attorney general.
Few people better represent Trump’s agenda of grievances and vendettas than Gaetz, a congressman from Florida until recently. Even against his own Republican leadership, he has been in the forefront of MAGA resistance in Congress and one of Trump’s most pugilist advocates.
Trump would at last have the devoted attorney general he thought he was lacking during his first term in Gaetz.
From the time Trump startled many of Washington by announcing Gaetz as his pick eight days ago, however, it was a difficult sell.
Gaetz had previously been the subject of an investigation by the Justice Department, which Trump wanted him to head, in a sex-trafficking case that was concluded without any charges. Details of what two women told the House Ethics Committee regarding their claims that Gaetz paid them for sex were starting to surface, and an unpublished report from a different House Ethics Committee probe also hung over Gaetz’s head.
On charges of sexual misconduct, drug usage, accepting bribes and unlawful gifts, exchanging indecent photographs on the House floor, squandering campaign funds, and delaying the investigation itself, the panel has intermittently looked into Gaetz for three years. This year, Gaetz ceased to cooperate with the investigation and disputed all of those accusations.
According to a senior Senate aide who spoke to NBC News, Gaetz’s bid was ultimately killed by the ethics investigation and resistance from Senate Republicans.
Gaetz seems too embroiled in controversy to make it through a Senate confirmation vote.
Even while there was a lot of momentum, it’s obvious that my confirmation was unjustly taking attention away from the important job being done by the Trump/Vance Transition, Gaetz wrote on X. I will be removing my name from consideration for the position of Attorney General because there is no time to squander on an unnecessary, drawn-out Washington dispute.
Another example of how Trump and his team frequently defy Capitol Hill norms is Gaetz’s hurried departure. Even though Gaetz’s flaws and legal issues were widely known, Trump’s team may have discovered the ethics investigation’s specifics sooner with more thorough investigation. Additionally, before Trump shocked the political community with his declaration last week, there was little to no attempt to gauge senators’ sentiment.
Multiple persons with firsthand knowledge said that at least five Senate Republicans had planned to vote against Gaetz and had told other senators and Trump allies that they were unlikely to be influenced. They include Sen.-elect John Curtis of Utah, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Susan Collins of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
According to Corey Norman, Curtis’ chief of staff, senator-elect Curtis feels that every president should have some discretion in choosing his team and appointing nominees. Additionally, he is adamant about the Senate’s crucial role in confirming or rejecting nominations in light of the data and analysis gathered from confirmation hearings.
Gaetz met with 11 senators on Wednesday, escorted by Ohio senator and vice president-elect JD Vance.
According to someone familiar with Gaetz’s conversations, he sincerely desired it but lacked a solid strategy to get over the resistance. No plan.
That this is the result is not surprising. This guy stated that it was perhaps a little unexpected that everything happened so quickly.
According to one of the individuals, at least 20 Senate Republicans, and maybe as many as 30, were quite uneasy about having to vote for Gaetz on the Senate floor. Gaetz just had three Republicans to lose.
It seemed worrisome to me right away. R-S.D. Senator Mike Rounds.
According to Rounds, there may have been some material available that the president was unaware of when he first suggested Gaetz’s withdrawal. That seems to have been the case in this instance, and it’s possible that Senate advice—rather than Senate consent—was the reason for it.
According to two sources with firsthand knowledge, Gaetz informed Trump of his plan to withdraw early Thursday after making the choice on his own.
Despite several workers’ doubts that Gaetz could be confirmed, one of the sources described seeing little internal resistance when Trump told his team of his choice for attorney general. According to this source, Senate leadership was not consulted beforehand regarding the selection.
The second source stated that Trump is anticipated to meet with a fresh group of attorney general candidates very soon, with no specific individual at the top of the list, and that it would always be difficult to confirm Gaetz.
Trump faces more obstacles to confirmation. His pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is a former Fox News anchor who has made statements against women serving in combat and has been accused of sexual assault but never charged. Additionally, Trump plans to appoint former Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda, as head of national intelligence and anti-vaccination activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health and human services secretary. Trump supporters were putting a lot of pressure on GOP senators and other aspirational Republicans to openly back his beleaguered Cabinet choices before to Gaetz’s withdrawal on Thursday.
According to someone close to Trump, the transition team applauded Gaetz’s decision to step aside, but they also stated that Matt couldn’t make it because the [House Ethics] report was about to leak.
On Thursday, several Justice Department officials were likewise letting out a sigh of relief.
Some things happen as expected, such as the sun driving away the night’s darkness. However, that doesn’t make me any less thankful for every sunrise, an official stated. Now I know what my Thanksgiving thanksgiving handprint turkey’s first feather will be.
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