WASHINGTON (AP) — Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected Wednesday as the new Senate majority leader, President-elect Donald Trump handed him one of his first tests — an announcement that he plans to appoint the controversial Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general.
The Florida Republican is one of the most widely hated members of Congress, including among Republican lawmakers, after he led the effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. He has spent his career in Congress agitating against the Justice Department and has been subject to a House Ethics investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted improper gifts and government investigations into his wanted to hinder behavior. Gaetz denies the allegations.
Asked about the nomination as he left a Senate vote, Thune smiled and declined to answer. “That’s probably a good question for the chairman of the Judiciary Committee,” he said.
An hour earlier, the likely new chairman of the judicial panel, Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa, also deflected, saying he does not know Gaetz but will look at the nomination. “Don’t ask me any more questions,” Grassley said.
It’s a familiar stance for Republican senators who have dodged questions about Trump for the past eight years and defended him even after he tried to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol. But the stakes are even higher now that he has been decisively elected to a second term. Republicans in Congress have rallied intensely around him and staked their political future on his success.
Two months before Trump even takes office, he is already challenging Republicans in Congress to defy him as he nominates potentially controversial figures to his Cabinet — including former Democratic House Representative Gaetz. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence and conservative media personality Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense. On Sunday, Trump even said in a post on
“I think it’s a little bit of a test,” said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who called the Gaetz nomination a “Hail Mary” pass from Trump. Cramer said he sees Gaetz as a disruptive force in the House of Representatives and is concerned about the “serious allegations” against him, but stopped short of saying he would not vote for his nomination.
“It’s going to take a lot of political capital to bring him over,” Cramer said, adding that “there will be tension between the departments forever.”
What’s unclear is how much political capital Trump will have to expend to get his picks through — or whether that will even be necessary. Republicans will have a 53-seat majority in the Senate next year, giving them room to lose a few votes.
Immediately after his election as the new Republican leader, Thune suggested that the Senate will not completely give up its power to review nominations — but kept the door open to Trump’s proposed changes.
“The Senate has an advice and consent rule in the Constitution,” Thune said, adding that Senate Republicans will do everything they can to get Trump’s nominees in place quickly.
“How that happens remains to be seen,” Thune said.
While Trump’s announcement about Gaetz sent an immediate shockwave around Capitol Hill, many Republican senators who will be tasked with confirming him were reluctant to publicly criticize the pick.
Texas Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the judicial panel, said he did not know Gaetz “other than his public persona” and said he “would not prejudge these nominations.”
Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, chosen Wednesday as the new No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, would say only that Trump “will continue to make his appointments. We continue to look forward to them coming to the Senate and holding hearings and his Cabinet being confirmed as soon as possible.”
“I have nothing for you,” said Senator Katie Britt, an Alabama Republican. “We’ll see,” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said when asked whether he would support Gaetz’s confirmation.
A few Republican senators praised Gaetz, who resigned from the House of Representatives shortly after the announcement, ending the House Ethics investigation and making way for a replacement to be chosen before the new Congress takes office. January 3 was sworn in.
“I’ve known Matt for a long time, we’re friends,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was nominated for secretary of state on Wednesday but was instead flooded with questions about Gaetz. “I think he would do a very good job for the president.”
Gaetz is “a smart, smart guy,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, though he said that “he’s going to have to answer some tough questions at the hearing, and we’ll see how he does that.”
Other Republican senators, such as Cramer, were skeptical but did not say they would oppose his nomination.
Gaetz “will have his work cut out for him,” said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, adding that it “should ensure a confirmation hearing about eating popcorn.”
Senator Susan Collins of Maine said she was “shocked” by Gaetz’s nomination.
“I recognize that the President-elect has the right to nominate whomever he wishes, but we in Congress have a responsibility under the Constitution and our advice and consent, which will result in hearings, an FBI background check and lots of questions. early in this case,” Collins said.
Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls had ended without federal charges being filed against him.
Democrats were shocked.
“This nomination is the first test of whether Republicans are willing to stand up to Donald Trump and act with conscience and conviction, rather than just politics,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Democratic member of the panel of the judiciary.
Senator Martin Heinrich, D-N.M. from New Mexico, was even more blunt.
“People voted for cheaper eggs, not whatever the f@#€ this is,” he posted on X, referring to last week’s election.
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Associated Press writers Stephen Groves, Kevin Freking and Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.
