Former President Trump shocked and appalled some Republican lawmakers on Wednesday by announcing plans to nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general.
Why it matters: Republican reaction to even Trump’s most controversial nominations has been muted so far, but placing the scandal-prone right-winger in the nation’s highest law enforcement role is a step too far for many.
“We wanted him out of the House … this isn’t what we were thinking,” quipped one House Republican, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about Trump’s decision.
What we’re hearing: Trump’s announcement was met with audible gasps by House Republicans during a conference meeting on Wednesday afternoon, multiple sources in the room told Axios.
One House Republican in the meeting described the conference’s response as “stunned and disgusted.”
What they’re saying: “Gaetz has a better shot at having dinner with Queen Elizabeth II than being confirmed by the senate,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), referring to the British monarch who died in 2022.
Rep. John Duarte (R-Calif.), noting that Gaetz is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, said he would be “a compromised AG” and that “there are better choices.”
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she was “shocked” by the pick: “This shows why the advice and consent process is so important and I’m sure that there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing.”
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Gaetz has “got his work really cut out for him” to get confirmed.
It’s only been a week since he was elected. Dude’s not even in office yet and there’s already shock and scandal coming from his own party. This is going to be a very long four years…
As designed by the media. Eternal despair is great for viewership.
I’ve been saying what will keep me alive the next four years is reminding Trump voters they are getting what they voted for every time they start to complain.
But, four years of even Republicans having to fight tooth and nail against his insanity would be even better.
The last time, when he was approaching 100 days in office, someone said that it felt like we were living in dog years. It’s true, this week has been incredibly long and it won’t get better.
No they aren’t.
They voted for it and they wanted this.
Hey pedophiles stick together
I’m so tired. I can’t handle another four years of journalism covering the most recent crazy thing he did or proposed every hour. Just a firehose of sneaky, selfish plans and actions.
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Remember. According to Susan Collins, he learned his lesson with his first impeachment so he won’t do corruption and crime stuff again. Because Trump pinky swore. Or something.
Of course she’ll rubber stamp it.
You mean Trump didn’t learn his lesson?!?
Oh good lord.
You know, it’s kind of weird to me that there are republicans stating he won’t be confirmed, which, also has me wondering, does that mean he does not have a senate full of Yes men?
Trump isn’t going to like that, so I assume they will change their mind after a little private one on one meeting with him.
Trump will bully the senators that go against him like he always does
Leopards…leopards everywhere.
That is the chonkiest of leopards!!
who spoke on the condition of anonymity
Definitely brings a feline word to mind.
And faces! Don’t forget the faces.
Eugh. Raw face is just gross.
It’s just gonna be never ending laughing to keep from crying from here on out.
Sorry, dear Americans we in Europe can’t take all of you. Our borders are closed now. Steve Bannon once told us to do so. Sorry!
No, they aren’t. Quit lying.
They might be, right now.
See, there’s plenty of time before they actually have to cast a vote. So I’m sure that means Trump will send some mean tweets out about them. And then they’ll make the pligrimage down to Mar-a-Lago, bend the knee, say 3 Hail Donalds as penance and promise to insult a brown person on their way out before returning to Washington, DC and voting to confirm him.
They’re not going to cast votes. This will all be done with recess appointments, and all of these “concerned” senators will “express their concerns” with the exploitation of the recess appointment process and lament that there was nothing they could do about it.
They had really hoped that Mr. Trump would cooperate with the advice and consent process, but what can they do if he pursues the recess route? It really is too bad and all of that.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said Gaetz has “got his work really cut out for him” to get confirmed.
Trump has already demanded that the Senate go into immediate recess so he can avoid the confirmation process altogether and just appoint them through recess appointments.
It will go the exact same way it did during Trump’s first term: Trump will send out a mean tweet and any dissenters will fall in line. Worked 100% of the time last time.
Yep. I’m curious to see how shocked, stunned and disgusted they really are.
They are all putting on their lip balm and puckering up to kiss his rotten asshole.
RFKj just announced he plans to ban lip balm.
They are going to be so shocked, stunned, and disgusted that they’re going to march right into the Senate chamber and vote the way he fucking told them to vote, but with a really big frowny face. I mean, it’s the strongest message that the United States Congress could possibly send to him. What else are they supposed to do? Vote…against… him? Criticize him…publicly? He might send out a mean tweet on both Twitter and Trump Social. These are politicians we’re talking about here! With cushy jobs and six figure salaries and staff people who have staff people. They can’t handle two mean tweets in one day!
I feel like we’re going to see a lot of “Republicans ashamed of Trump” headlines while they sign their names in blood on everything he asks for.
If they wanted to, they could simply choose not to certify the election results or they could impeach and vote to remove him.
They won’t. They’re all complicit.
They’re rightly scared of not being re-elected for daring to oppose him. Or worse.
Mark my words, you are going to see a LOT of railing against rebel Republicans from Trump. Or what few are left, anyway.
Thune (just chosen as the new Senate majority leader) has already agreed to recess the Senate so that Trump could appoint whoever he wants without going through the confirmation process by using the recess appointment process. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_appointment
Spineless
Yep. Add that to Trump’s plan to fire all the military generals who won’t swear loyalty to him and surprise! Fascism. (Well I guess it’s not really a surprise.)
In other news, the nomination of Matt Gaetz as AG by Donald Trump has moved the Mitt Romney Outrage Meter from “distasteful” to “bothersome”.
How many steps are we away from a furrowed brow?
Why in the world would Republicans think that Trump would make sensible appointments? What has he done in the past, that would make them think this?
