Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his A.G. nominee because this is our world again
Here we go — and it’s not good. Also: I'll be speaking in New York next week.
Remember when I told you over the weekend that I was watching Donald Trump’s big Cabinet nominee selections, like attorney general, because they “are important to gleaning whether Trump plans to start this administration as a sort of continuation of his first term, as something far different and potentially immediately dangerous to our democracy, or as some point in between those two places.”
Well, here we go — and it’s not good. It might be more stupid than dangerous, but that carries with it its own significant dangers, so, ultimately, stupid and dangerous is what we appear to be getting.
Trump announced on Wednesday that he is nominating Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be attorney general — the head of the Justice Department.
The news came shortly after Trump left the White House, having been welcomed into the Oval Office by President Biden, who promised a “smooth transition,” after Trump did nothing similar in 2020 because he was trying to overturn the election results.
Trump left the White House on Wednesday and announced that he was backing Gaetz to run DOJ.
Gaetz was previously was the subject of a Justice Department sex-trafficking investigation that did not result in charges being brought against Gaetz. The House Ethics Committee, however, has an ongoing investigation into his activities. As recently as September 26, Gaetz blasted the committee for its work — while acknowledging that it had issued a subpoena for his testimony.
Now, Trump stated on Truth Social, he is nominating Gaetz to lead DOJ because he “distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.“
Distinguished due to his many interactions with DOJ, perhaps, but that’s about it.
[Update, 10:55 p.m.: Gaetz has already resigned from the House — days before the Ethics Committee was due to release a “highly critical“ report on Gaetz, The New York Times reported on Wednesday evening. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Gaetz told him the timing of his resignation will speed up the election for his replacement, HuffPost reported.]
What does Trump want Gaetz to do at DOJ?
Trump wrote that “Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.“
This tracks with Project 2025’s section on the Justice Department in its Mandate for Leadership. The section was written by Gene Hamilton — a former Trump administration official who is a close ally of Stephen Miller, who himself has already been named deputy chief of staff to Trump. I covered this section previously.
If and as this nomination proceeds, there will be much more to say about this.
Gaetz was not all, though, of course.
On Tuesday, Trump had announced that Fox News host and handwashing-opponent Pete Hegseth is his nominee to be defense secretary.
Aside from their many problems, can either Gaetz or Hegseth actually run those exceptionally large, extremely powerful agencies? Not likely.
Also on Wednesday, he announced that Tulsi Gabbard was his nominee to be Director of National Intelligence. Can she do this job? Not effectively, at least.
At this point then, Kristi Noem — Trump’s nominee for Department of Homeland Security — already doesn’t even make the podium for Trump’s worst picks.
Marco Rubio, meanwhile, is Trump’s nominee to be secretary of state and seems like a downright reasonable pick in contrast to many others.
There are more names named, but, to close this up, I want to return to Gaetz.
I want to put a possibility out there: Donald Trump does not care about people. He does not respect norms and has already made clear he plans to push even the Republican-led Senate next year on its treatment of his nominees.
Does Trump care if Gaetz’s nomination fails? Not likely.
I imagine that Trump will have someone in running the Justice Department on day one who is serving in an acting role under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1988 or a Justice Department-specific line of succession. There will be no Sally Yates this time — but remember Matthew Whitaker?
With that in mind, I would point to two worrying possibilities: A failed Gaetz nomination might help Hegseth, Gabbard, or any others get through the Senate.1 It also could similarly serve to allow an extremist pick for attorney general who is, in comparison, much more qualified for the role but potentially much more dangerous in the role.
There are 68 days until Trump takes office.
Upcoming Law Dork speaking event
Next week, I will be giving the keynote address at “Skrmetti and the Broader Environment for LGBTQ Rights,” a conference looking at the upcoming December 4 U.S. Supreme Court arguments in U.S. v. Skrmetti and the broader post-election landscape for LGBTQ rights in the United States.
The event will take place November 21 at NYU Law, will be livestreamed, and is sponsored by the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission of the New York Courts and the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.
Register here.
Of course, and by my own reasoning, he doesn’t care about any of them, so this logic applies to any failing nominee that Trump decides he is ready to replace.
Prospective AG interviewing for interns: 16 years old, female, no experience required.
I didn't think it was possible for this timeline to get any dumber or more vicious, but here we are.