'Matt Gaetz difficult': Why latest Trump nominee will be hard to confirm

01 December 2024

Although Rolling Stone reported Sunday morning that former Trump Defense Secretary Kash Patel — the president-elect's nominee to replace FBI Director Christopher Wray — is likely the "scariest" MAGA pick so far, Puck New senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri argues that the staunch Trump ally will be difficult to get past the US Senate.

Patel — who lacks experience in law enforcement — has vowed to prosecute his potential boss' enemies in media and government, saying, "We’re going to come after you. Whether it’s criminally or civilly, we’ll figure that out."

Speaking with Palmeri on Sunday morning, MSNBC's The Weekend co-host Alicia Menendez asked the political correspondent to explain how Trump decided on Patel for the position.

"I think it was inevitable that Kash Patel was going to get a senior position within the administration," Palmeri replied.

"Donald Trump mused about making him FBI director in his final days in the White House as well. It was just a matter of whether to give him a position that required confirmation or not, because he already has a pretty tall order with some of the people he's asking the Senate to confirm," she continued. "That's [former Rep.] Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) — who is on a no fly list, who has a favorable view of [Russia President Vladimir] Putin. [Fox News host] Pete Hegseth — accused of sexually assaulting a woman, and a new letter came out from his mother calling him an abuser. So he's just adding another person to a piling list of very difficult people for the Senate to swallow, and to confirm."

Palmeri added, "And really these nominations can be tanked by four votes. You've got people like [Senators] Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME), even Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and possibly the new senator from Utah — John Curtis — taking Mitt Romney's seat, who might just be willing to tank those things. So he's just added another person. And I question why he's using so much political capital right now on these positions."

"I think whatever happens, Kash Patel will probably find a prominent position within the White House or the administration, even if it's not confirmable," the Puck News reporter emphasized. "But I think this one is going to be difficult to confirm. Matt Gaetz difficult."

Gaetz — who Trump nominated for attorney general last month — withdrew from the running to be confirmed amid piling sex trafficking allegations.

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