President-elect Donald Trump recently announced on social media that he would be nominating Florida Representative Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to serve as the Attorney General of the United States for Trump’s second term in office. This nomination is part of a wider wave of announcements and choices by Trump, many of which have generated significant controversy, most especially Gaetz’s nomination. This is because Gaetz has been under a House Ethics Committee investigation for several years (since 2021) over accusations of participating in Sex Trafficking while serving as a representative. Additionally, Gaetz was subpoenaed in March of this year by a woman who purported that Gaetz paid for her services when she was 17, further adding to the investigation into Gaetz.
Matt Gaetz speaking on Capitol Hill on March 12th, 2024. (ABC News)
With his nomination, Gaetz also resigned from his position as Representative for Florida Congressional District 1, which represents much of Northwest Florida and the Pensacola region. His resignation means that, if he is to lose his nomination bid in Congress, Gaetz will no longer be in any Federal office. This potential future loss is increasingly likely, especially due to the reactions many Republican representatives and senators had when they were informed of Gaetz’s nomination. According to one anonymous House Republican who spoke to Axios, “We wanted him out of the house…this isn’t what we were thinking”. In fact, some House Republicans have taken the rare choice to go on record about their opposition to Gaetz and their low confidence in his nomination. As said by Representative Max Miller (R-OH), “He would have a better shot of having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the Senate.”
Many Democratic representatives and senators have started demanding that the House Ethics Committee release the results of their investigation into Gaetz, which has been ongoing for several years. However, the investigation, as part of a wider legal wind-down of investigations into both the President-elect and his allies, is expected to not be released to the public before his nomination. In addition, current Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) has stated that he would “strongly request” that the committee not release the results of the report after Gaetz resigned from Congress. He stated that it was a “breach of protocol” to do so, even though several prior investigations in the 20th century were released after the resignation of the congressmen who were being investigated.
Sources
Axios, “Republicans “stunned and disgusted” as Trump taps Matt Gaetz for AG”
ABC News, “Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress after being picked for attorney general”
The Snapper 