Trump stuns Republican senators by picking Matt Gaetz as attorney general

WASHINGTON — President-elect Donald Trump stunned Senate Republicans when he announced Wednesday that he would nominate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to be U.S. attorney general.

Gaetz, a Trump loyalist known as a rabble-rouser in Congress, needs a majority in the Senate to be confirmed as the nation’s top law enforcement official. Republicans will have a majority of 52 or 53 seats starting January 3, depending on the outcome of the Pennsylvania Senate election. That means Gaetz won’t have much room for error, assuming all Democrats oppose him.

Some Senate Republicans said the trial would not be smooth for Gaetz.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said it will be “a significant challenge” for Gaetz to win enough votes to be confirmed.

“I don’t think this is a serious nomination for attorney general. That’s Lisa Murkowski’s view,” Murkowski said. “We need a serious attorney general. And I look forward to the opportunity to consider someone who is serious. This one wasn’t on my bingo card.”

“He has a lot of work ahead of him,” added Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who sits on the Judiciary Committee that is overseeing the nomination, said the Senate must “seriously consider every presidential nomination, but we also have a constitutional responsibility.”

“I don’t know the man, other than this public figure,” Cornyn told reporters.

When asked whether Gaetz was being investigated by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct, Cornyn said dryly: “That could come up.”

“I don’t know if there’s any basis for that or not,” he added. “So yeah, I’m sure we’ll be asking a lot of questions.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who also sits on the Judiciary Committee, said the Senate will take an “honest look” at Gaetz and that the investigation into the congressman will be “part of the process” of considering him for the post .

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, expressed skepticism.

“Of course the president has the right to nominate whoever he wants, but I’m sure there will be a lot of questions,” she said.

Collins said the ethics investigation “will be one of the issues that will be raised because, as far as I know, there is an active investigation by the House Ethics Committee.”

Other Senate Republicans declined to comment on Trump’s recent Cabinet picks.

“I don’t have anything for you,” said Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala.

But some Republican senators seemed open to the possibility of Gaetz.

“The president gets to choose his nominees,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., without saying how he would vote.

Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., did not comment directly on Gaetz, but said he looked forward to “winning President Trump’s nominees after hearing their plans for the departments.”

Asked if that meant he would vote yes, he said: “Everyone has to go through the committee hearings, but we want to work to confirm President Trump’s nominees.”

“You can record me as speechless”

Senate Democrats were also stunned by Trump’s announcement.

“You can call me speechless,” said Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who serves on the Judiciary Committee.

“That was in The Onion, right?,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt.

Outgoing Sen. Joe Manchin, R-W.Va., added: “I just heard the news. I can’t even believe it.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Gaetz lacks basic qualifications for the job.

“He’s going to have a lot of problems in the Senate,” Blumenthal said. “I think this nomination will be the first big test of whether they are ready to stand up to Donald Trump. And we’ll find out soon.”

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., laughed and called the Gaetz nomination “God-level trolling” to “own the Libs forever.”

“Obviously it’s nothing serious,” he said. “No one will confirm him. And I definitely won’t freak out.”

Republicans in the House of Representatives react to Gaetz’s election

When Trump’s social media post announcing the election made the rounds, Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho said the reaction in the room where House Republicans were meeting was: “Oh my God. “

Asked if Gaetz had the character of an attorney general, Simpson replied: “Are you shitting on me?”

“No,” he said, calling on the House Ethics Committee to release its report on Gaetz now.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said he was concerned that the already slim GOP majority was shrinking further because Trump had picked several lawmakers for administration posts.

“We met with President Trump and said, ‘Please, no more representatives after Matt Gaetz,'” Scalise said.

Rep. Max Miller of Ohio called Gaetz’s choice “silly.”

“I think the president is probably rewarding him for being such a loyal soldier to the president,” he said. “But the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough, to know that Mr. Gaetz will never be confirmed by the Senate.”