'I got nothing for you': GOP senators already souring on Matt Gaetz’s nomination

13 November 2024

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) may be the next Attorney General of the United States if President-elect Donald Trump has his way. But even with a Republican-controlled Senate, Gaetz's future is uncertain.

On the social media platform Bluesky, journalist Joshua Friedman quoted Punchbowl News co-founder John Bresnahan who said that Republicans were "stunned — and not in a good way" by the prospect of Gaetz being in charge of the DOJ and its roughly 115,000 employees. He added that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) was "so exasperated by reporters asking him about Gaetz that he stopped talking and stood there stone-faced for 30 seconds."

Senate Republicans' immediate reaction to the news of Gaetz being selected to head the Department of Justice were not positive. The Washington Post's Liz Goodwin tweeted a thread of various responses she got from Republicans after the news broke of the president-elect's pick for the nation's top law enforcement official.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is one of the more moderate members of the Senate Republican Conference. She told Goodwin that there will likely be "many many questions" for the Florida Republican at his confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and that she was personally "shocked" after hearing that Trump picked him.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who is another GOP Senate moderate, gave nonverbal disapproval of Gaetz's nomination. Goodwin tweeted that she asked Murkowski: "Do you think he's a serious candidate?" The Alaska senator reportedly shook her head "no" before walking onto the Senate floor.

Republicans' apparent uneasiness about promoting Gaetz to head the DOJ didn't end with more moderate members of the conference. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alabama), who delivered the official Republican response to President Joe Biden's State of the Union address in March, told Goodwin "I got nothing for you" when asked to give her thoughts on Gaetz.

Even the most positive responses to Gaetz's nomination were merely noncommittal. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) would only say he would give the Florida congressman an "honest look," though he also noted that Gaetz had "jousted" with Senate Republicans on several issues in the past. Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) said that while he was typically "bullish" on the president-elect's Cabinet picks, he would still "have to noodle that one a little while" when asked about Gaetz as attorney general.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) is preparing to become the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee once the Republican Senate majority is sworn in on January 3. But even he said that Gaetz would likely have to answer "tough questions" from committee members in his confirmation hearing. Goodwin reported that Graham said he was "surprised" by Trump's decision to tap Gaetz for DOJ.

If confirmed, Gaetz would be the first Attorney General of the United States to have been previously investigated by the DOJ. While Gaetz was ultimately not charged for alleged sex trafficking of minors, that didn't spare him from the Republican-controlled House Committee on Ethics. The committee announced in June that the allegations about their colleague "merit continued review," as it had identified "additional allegations" that weren't specified.

Republicans also have a fractious relationship with Gaetz due to his role in orchestrating the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) in October of 2023. His work to strip McCarthy of the gavel led to a weeks-long public intra-party struggle that resulted in three separate House GOP leaders vying for the speakership before the job ultimately went to Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana).

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