Democrats express concern over Gaetz pick

Democrats in both chambers of Congress have expressed concern over President-elect Trump’s decision to tap Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to serve as the next attorney general. 

Trump announced on Wednesday that Gaetz, a loyal congressional ally, will be nominated to become the nation’s top law enforcement official, praising the Floridian as a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney.” Hours later, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) announced that Gaetz would resign from Congress “effective immediately,” in what Johnson said was a way to accelerate the process of filling his seat to minimize the impact of losing a member with holding a razor-thin majority next year. 

The president-elect’s decision immediately bewildered Senate Republicans with some questioning if there would be enough votes to confirm Gaetz into the Cabinet position.  

“It’ll just be interesting to see what his organic base is,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, Congressman Gaetz, he’ll have a hearing but I’m all about counting votes and I would think that he’s probably got some work cut out for him to get a good strong vote.

“We’re not going to get a single Democrat vote,” he added. 

Gaetz’s selection stunned and surprised many Democrats in both chambers, with some arguing that the Florida Republican is not qualified to serve in the post. Others called on Senators on both sides to reject his ascension and prevent him from taking over the position.

“I was originally going to hold off on commenting on nominations at this stage but I cannot stay quiet here,” Senator-elect Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said in a Wednesday post on X. “I don’t need a confirmation hearing to know that Matt Gaetz is not qualified for Attorney General. I will not support his confirmation.” 

“Holy s---. Trump will nominate Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. The man who was at the center of a sex trafficking probe. God help us,” Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) said on X. 

Senator-elect Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said that Gaetz’s potential confirmation would “mean affirming the worst potential abuses of DOJ” and that the Trump ally “must be rejected by the Senate.”

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), an ally of President Biden, said he expects Gaetz’s confirmation process to be the most thorough, one that will represent a “deadly serious challenge to the Senate’s constitutional advice and consent role.” 

“Given an ongoing ethics investigation in the House, given some of the allegations that have been made against Congressman Gaetz, and given some of his conduct, I think this will be a robust and thorough confirmation process,” Coons said. 

“My hope is that my colleagues in the Republican caucus will urge the president to reconsider,” he added. 

One of the concerns for members in the upper chamber is around the Justice Department’s (DOJ) probe into the allegations that Gaetz had sexual intercourse with an underage girl. The investigation was closed in 2023 and the lawmaker did not face criminal charges. He has strongly denied wrongdoing. The investigation by the House Ethics Committee probe is still active. 

With Gaetz’s resignation, the probe by the House Ethics Committee, which was in the last phase, will be torpedoed. The committee would not have jurisdiction to probe Gaetz due to him not being a member of the lower chamber. 

“Once a member is no longer a member of Congress, then Ethics has no jurisdiction,” House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-Miss.) said to reporters on Wednesday. “So if Matt Gaetz were to be appointed as the attorney general, the Ethics investigation that is currently ongoing would cease at that point.”

Gaetz has many attributes that Trump is looking for in the next attorney general. During his tenure as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Gaetz has forcefully defended Trump and accused the FBI and the DOJ of conducting biased probes into the 45th president and other conservatives. 

“The Attorney General of the United States must have strong judgement, moral character, and a deep respect for the law. As almost all members of Congress know, Matt Gaetz has none of those things,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. 

“What he does have is unconditional loyalty to Donald Trump and a willingness to weaponize the government against his political allies — an affinity that he and the president-elect share,” he added. 

Other Republican lawmakers in Congress applauded Trump’s choice for attorney general. 

“Congratulations to @mattgaetz on his nomination for Attorney General! Wishing him success, and I look forward to seeing the impact of his leadership on the DOJ,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said in a post on X. 

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) said that the president-elect “could not have made a better choice.” 

“There's no one better to lead the charge to dismantle the weaponized DOJ than my friend @MattGaetz,” Biggs said on X. 

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s spokesperson for comment.

Updated at 10:58 p.m. EDT