More than half of Senate Republicans, including some in top leadership positions, say privately they see no way to confirm former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general and would not support him leading the department. According to multiple people who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity, Justice.
While Gaetz’s ability to be confirmed appears to be in stone among Senate Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump’s team is confident he will be confirmed in the end, even after an ugly battle.
NBC News spoke with more than 15 Republican sources who agreed the Senate did not have enough votes to confirm Gaetz, and some estimated as many as 30 Republicans thought he was unqualified.
According to sources familiar with the plan, Gaetz and Trump lawyer Todd Blanche are trying to fill the Justice Department. If confirmed, Blanche will serve as the No. 2 powerful post at the Justice Department and oversee US attorneys’ offices across the country.
“President Trump and his team are focused on the confirmation of AG-designer Gaetz and are confident of that,” a person familiar with Trump’s thinking told NBC News.
JD Vance and his assistants were also elected as vice presidents works with phones to read what senators have stood by Gaetz over the past two days.
Trump announced his pick for attorney general on Wednesday. He is writing an article about the truth Social“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Gun Government, secure our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations, and restore Americans’ badly damaged Faith and Confidence in the Department of Justice.”
When the president-elect initially announced his choice, many Republicans except House Speaker Mike Johnson, who caught Trump’s eye they were in complete shock.
During his few stints in the house, Gaetz was often embroiled in controversy.
He was It was investigated by the Ministry of Justice In the case involving the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, although the former congressman, who resigned shortly after being elected attorney general, has always denied the charges and has never been prosecuted.
On Thursday, the lawyer of the 17-year-old girl he wrote in a Type in Xsaying“He was a high school student and there were witnesses” when the alleged incident occurred.
Attorney John Clune also called for the release of a report detailing the House Ethics Committee’s years-long investigation into Gaetz.
“If they want to send [the report] That would be fine,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch Trump ally, told reporters at the Capitol this week, though he added in a statement from his office that the president plans to vote to confirm each. – selected judge candidates.
On Friday, Johnson said, “he pleads fiercelyThe report has not been made public, although several Republican senators have said they want to look at the report as part of the debate process before a confirmation vote.
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters at the Capitol this week when asked whether the Senate Judiciary Committee would be privy to the report: “I don’t want there to be any limitations on what the Senate can review.”
“We need to fully vet the candidates, not just to make sure the candidate is qualified, but also to protect the president,” he said.
“I think when you’re at that point, especially given that he suddenly left Congress just before the report came out, given the job he was appointed to, given that the FBI was going to do a background check anyway, I can’t imagine that the committee would want to see him. won’t,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “So at least those of us who have the right to vote, starting with the Judiciary Committee, should see that they won’t I can’t even imagine.”
The House Ethics Committee was expected to meet Friday to decide whether to release its report on Gaetz, which it has been investigating since 2021, according to a source with direct knowledge of the matter. The panel abruptly canceled the meeting, which House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., insisted had only been postponed.
Later Friday, an attorney for another woman interviewed by the House Ethics Committee he said he was a client “He testified to the House Ethics Committee He said he witnessed Rep. Gaetz having sex with a minor at a house party in Orlando in 2017.
Several Republicans shared that Gaetz, who is now being investigated by an agency he may control, has a “steep hill” to climb to get confirmed in the Senate.
As Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal suggested to NBC News, Cramer said Thursday when asked if 10 Senate Republicans could vote against Gaetz, “I would guess that if we had a vote on the Senate floor today, it would be more than that.” day. “I’m concerned that he’s not going to get across the finish line, and we’re going to spend a lot of political capital … on something that, even if they do, you’re going to have to wonder if it’s worth it.”
Republicans who now oppose Gaetz may vote to confirm him when the time comes, especially if pressure from Trump mounts.
Gaetz would not be confirmed if more than three GOP senators vote against him if Republicans win 53 seats in the upper chamber after a recount in Pennsylvania’s Senate race is complete (Vance could break a tie as Senate president).
Republicans like Cramer have cautioned Trump not to jam someone like Gaetz into recess meetings to get through the Senate’s confirmation process.
Shortly after Trump was predicted to win the presidential election He actually wrote Social He is calling on Republicans running to be the next Senate majority leader to allow him to use recess appointments to quickly confirm the Cabinet.
This style of nomination would bypass the normal appointment process, leaving the Senate entirely out of the equation, allowing Trump to appoint Cabinet members while both houses of Congress are in recess for the final days or weeks.
The House and Senate are currently in recess to hold pro-forma sessions to prevent the president from taking such steps to appoint Cabinet members.
Since the Truth Social post, Trump has not sought confirmation of any specific cabinet picks, including Gaetz, with a recess appointment.
“If the obstructionists are on the other side and you have the votes to confirm somebody, then you can make an ethical decision to provide that opportunity, the constitutional opportunity,” Kramer said. “On the other hand, if the opposition prevents you from doing this with your own party, I think there are several risks. You could do it, but it would be a very weak Cabinet secretary.”