WASHINGTON — The U.S. Capitol is now Trump country, but that doesn’t mean Republican senators want to discuss President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general nomination, Matt Gaetz.
“I'm just not gonna spend my day talking about everything that happens,” Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) told Raw Story as he hopped a congressional tram Thursday.
The senior senator from Kansas is far from alone.
“I've got nothing for you on the president's nominations. That's for the next Congress, so I got nothing,” retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) told Raw Story while speed-walking through the Capitol’s basement. “When I say I've got nothing, I mean I got nothing.”
That’s not because Romney doesn’t know who Gaetz is. Last year, the Florida firebrand angered Republicans across Capitol Hill when he orchestrated the ouster of then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy. That made him a MAGA star — but alienated the far-right, four-term congressman.
Gaetz has garnered most of the attention since Trump announced his nomination Wednesday, but the incoming president also tapped Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to be his secretary of state on Wednesday.
While they’re both Florida Republicans, the Sunshine State’s senior senator isn’t coming to Gaetz’s defense.
“I’m not going to be commenting on any of that stuff anymore,” Rubio told Raw Story while walking through the Capitol on Thursday. “I’ve got to get confirmed in the Senate.”
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“So it’s wise to not talk about Gaetz?” Raw story pressed.
“No, no,” Rubio said. “I have to work on the confirmation process, so I'm not gonna be commenting on anything.”
Gaetz resigned his congressional seat Wednesday evening after Trump announced the pick, a move critics said was meant to skirt a reportedly damning investigation into allegations of misconduct and drug abuse that the House Ethics Committee was wrapping up.
“Are you worried that Gaetz will distract from the agenda?” Raw Story asked.
“I just issued a statement. That's all I'm gonna say,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told Raw Story as he walked along the tram track underneath the Capitol on Thursday.
“But, like, you seem annoyed to even be asked about it?” Raw Story pressed.
“You can ask anything you want to ask,” Graham replied. “Read my statement.”
Graham said in a statement Thursday morning that, “Every nominee will have to acquit themselves well during the confirmation process by answering difficult questions and having their actions scrutinized.
“Generally speaking, I vote for confirmation regardless of party or personal feelings because that is my Constitutional role as a Senator," the end of Graham’s release reads. "I will do the same for President Trump’s nominees. The American people have spoken loudly, and President Trump won decisively. I consider this matter closed.”
As many Republican senators avoid questions about Gaetz, they're not lining up to oppose him.
Last February, the Department of Justice ended a sex trafficking investigation into Gaetz, but that didn’t quiet the rumors of sexual misconduct with minors that have swirled around him for years.
Even though Gaetz is now gone, there’s a bipartisan push to release the findings of the House Ethics Committee investigation, which means the rumors aren’t going away.
“Do you think Gaetz is a good part of the GOP brand?” Raw Story asked the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
“We're going to continue to work with President Trump. A great slate of candidates have been nominated,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) told Raw Story.
Other Republicans brushed aside the allegations.
“My presumption is I’ll vote for all of the president’s nominees,” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) told reporters after voting Thursday.
“Are Senate Republicans a part of Trump's team?” Raw Story asked. “Are you part of his White House? Because you just said you'll support all of his nominees.”
“I’m speaking for me — that's my presumption,” Hawley said. “The reason for that is he's the leader of my party who just won resoundingly. He's got my presumptive support for all of his nominees.”
Hawley later added: “We're gonna go through the confirmation process. I'm not saying, like, I'm gonna skip the [confirmation] hearings, you know. And I think the hearings are really important. My starting position is I’m presuming I’m gonna support all his picks.”
Other Republicans said they still need to read up on Gaetz and other far-right nominations from Trump.
“I don't know enough to be concerned right now. I think it would be responsible for me to learn more about each of these nominees with whom I am not particularly well acquainted,” Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) told reporters at the Capitol on Thursday. “If you'd like to take a look at my social media feed, I've spoken to the quality of the nominees. I'm very excited to work with a number of them.”
Young has taken to social media to praise many of Trump’s cabinet picks — from calling Rubio an “inspired choice” at the State Department to predicting Rep. Elise Stefanik will be an “outstanding” ambassador to the United Nations — but he’s yet to comment on Gaetz.
“I need to learn more about him,” Young said.
On the other side of the aisle, Democrats said there’s not much more to learn about Gaetz.
Senators from the more progressive wing of the Democratic Party laughed — if trepidatiously — and said Trump made it easy for them to oppose many of his picks from the far-right wing of the GOP — particularly Gaetz.
“These first nominations are pretty telling,” Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) told Raw Story as she entered an elevator in the Capitol Thursday. “It’s gonna be really interesting to see what the Republicans do. We know what we're gonna do.”
But Democrats in states that Trump won have already backed some nominees.
“Some are serious and quality ones, like my colleague Rubio or Elise Stefanik is a solid choice,” Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) told reporters as he made his way to vote on the Senate floor on Thursday. “And then others are obvious kinds of trolls or flex[ing], and I didn't freak out, 'Oh my god. Oh my god. I can't believe you did that.'”
Fetterman warned his Democratic colleagues against obstructionism because Trump won the popular vote along with each battleground state, including his home state of Pennsylvania. The senator said hysteria over each Trump nominee is misguided.
“If clutching those pearls harder was helpful to move the needle, then we wouldn't be in the minority next time,” Fetterman said.
While Fetterman plans to support some of Trump’s nominees he said Gaetz's nomination crossed the line. When reporters asked if he was contemplating supporting Gaetz, Fetterman appeared offended.
“That's insulting,” Fetterman said. “Like, of course not.”