When last week kicked off, Matt Gaetz was Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general of the United States. At the start of this week, the Florida Republican was an unemployed former congressman with a Cameo account.
Sometimes when the mighty fall, they fall quickly.
One of the many extraordinary elements of the Gaetz fiasco was the speed with which it began, unfolded and collapsed. It was on Nov. 13 — just a week after Trump won a second term — when the president-elect announced he wanted the scandal-plagued and patently unqualified Republican lawmaker to serve as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. Eight days later, Gaetz withdrew from consideration. The next day, Trump announced that another Florida Republican — former Attorney General Pam Bondi — would be his new choice for attorney general, and much of the political world moved on.
However, perhaps it happened a little too quickly. Developments came and went at such a pace, against the backdrop of many other controversial nomination announcements, that there was little time for accountability. That’s a shame, because some accountability is appropriate given the seriousness of this debacle.
For Trump, this was both a significant and humiliating post-election failure. Not only did he select someone who had nothing to do with this position, he did so while abdicating a responsible vetting process. Equally notable, the president-elect focused on his efforts, reaching out to several individual senators in hopes of convincing them to support Gaetz to lead the Justice Department.
For newly elected Vice President JD Vance, the embarrassment was just as severe. In his first post-election task, the Ohio Republican urged his fellow Republican senators to support Gaetz, and even take on a personal and hands-on role, moving Gaetz from office to office as part of the lobbying efforts. We now know that Vance failed spectacularly.
But the humiliation also extends to some on Capitol Hill. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, for example, suggested he was willing to vote to confirm Gaetz, and even senators who knew better left little doubt that they were willing to put party interests above the interests of the nation. The New York Times reported two weeks ago:
“He’s a smart, smart guy,” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said of Mr. Gaetz, adding: “I normally support presidential picks for their Cabinet. I did that for both parties. That is my attitude.”
I realize political cycles move quickly, but Graham’s willingness to support Gaetz should leave a scar on the senator’s record that won’t fade.
As for others on Capitol Hill, there might be a temptation to think the system worked. A newly elected president made an obscene choice for attorney general; responsible senators from both parties refused; and the utterly bonkers nomination fight ended before it began in earnest.
But that interpretation seems overly generous. Gaetz walked away because he didn’t have — and wouldn’t have — the votes needed to move forward, but it’s not like the Republican Senate Conference was speaking with one voice. The New York Times reported last week:
Mr. Gaetz told people close to him that after talking to senators and members of their staffs, he concluded that there were at least four Republican senators in the next Congress who were implacably opposed to his nomination: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska , Susan Collins of Maine, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and newly elected John Curtis of Utah. With a majority of 53 members, four renegades would be enough to reject the nomination.
I’m glad there were four Republicans in the Senate who declined, but let’s not celebrate too warmly: There should have been 53 Republicans in the Senate who refused.
The Republican senators who were willing to toe the party line should not be quickly forgotten.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
