What Republicans who control Matt Gaetz’s fate are saying privately about Trump’s AG pick

Former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz has been a lightning rod at times within his party, which explains why some GOP senators have anonymously expressed doubts he will be confirmed as Donald Trump’s next attorney general.
But veteran Washington D.C. reporters are less convinced Republicans will defy Trump and block his nomination.
“What I’m hearing privately from a few key GOP senators: yes, they’d prefer to not have a messy fight over Gaetz. Not their favorite. But they also don’t have a lot of energy for pushing back. Trump runs the show, they say. If Gaetz can reassure them, they’re open to backing him,” CBS News’ Robert Costa posted to X Thursday.
“Does anyone really believe Senate Rs are gonna tank the Gaetz nomination? I’d put the odds of it as pretty low though not impossible,” the Bulwark’s Sam Stein posted a day earlier.
Gaetz was not among the more established attorneys who had been mentioned as contenders for the job, and even his colleagues in Congress appeared stunned by the news.
“Everybody was saying, ‘Oh my God,’” said Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho. “That was about as big a surprise as I’ve had in a long time.”
Gaetz resigned from his House seat Wednesday evening.
Trump announced the decision in a post in his Truth Social network, saying Gaetz would “root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution.”
If confirmed by the Republican-led Senate, Gaetz would instantly become one of the most closely watched members of Trump’s Cabinet given his avowed loyalty to a president-elect who has threatened to pursue retribution against perceived adversaries.
Gaetz represents much of the Florida Panhandle and became a conservative star when he joined Congress, appearing as a frequent staunch defender of Trump on cable news.
Soon after Trump announced plans to nominate him to the post and Gaetz resigned, news broke he has been under scrutiny by the House Ethics Committee over allegations including sexual misconduct. That probe effectively ended Wednesday, though, when Gaetz stepped down.
He’s spent years enmeshed in scandals that threaten to derail his confirmation as the nation’s top federal law enforcement officer by the Republican-led Senate.
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 with no federal charges against him.
Trump’s attorney general is expected to oversee radical changes to the Justice Department, which has been the target of Trump’s ire over two criminal cases it brought accusing him of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election and hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump, who cast himself as the victim of politically motivated prosecutions, vowed repeatedly on the campaign trail to carry out retribution against his political enemies if returned to the White House.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.