Just hours after Republican Sen. John Thune was elected as the incoming Senate majority leader, President-elect Donald Trump presented him with one of his first tests — an announcement that he intends to nominate House Republican Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
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The Florida Republican is one of the more universally disliked members of Congress, including among GOP lawmakers after he led the effort toprobing whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz denies the allegations.Asked about the nomination as he left a Senate vote, Thune smiled and declined to answer.
“I think it’s a little bit of a test,” said Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, who called the Gaetz nomination a “Hail Mary” pass from Trump. Cramer said he sees Gaetz as a disruptive force in the House and has concerns about the “serious allegations” against him, but stopped short of saying he wouldn’t vote for his confirmation.
Immediately after his election as the incoming GOP leader, Thune suggested that the Senate will not fully relinquish its power to vet nominations — but kept the door open to Trump’s suggested changes. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, elected Wednesday as the incoming No. 2 Republican in the Senate next year, would only say that Trump “is going to continue to make his appointments. We’re going to continue to look forward to them coming to the Senate and have hearings and get his Cabinet confirmed as quickly as possible.”
“I’ve known Matt for a very long time, we’re friends,” said Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who was nominated for secretary of state Wednesday, but was instead flooded with questions about Gaetz. “I think he would do a very good job for the president.”
Politics Kevin Cramer Donald Trump Washington News John Thune Pete Hegseth Chuck Grassley Matt Gaetz Kevin Mccarthy
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