Trump taps firebrand congressman Matt Gaetz for attorney general

Washington: President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named incendiary Republican US Representative Matt Gaetz to be his nominee for attorney general, selecting an ally who has faced Justice Department scrutiny to run the agency.

"Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department," Trump said in a statement announcing the selection, which would be subject to confirmation by the Republican-majority Senate.

The choice of a 42-year-old congressman who has never worked in the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government was the latest in a wave of Trump nominations of candidates with scant experience.

Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives on Wednesday "effective immediately," House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.

“It caught us by surprise a little bit," Johnson said of the resignation, adding Gaetz stepped down to quickly start the process of naming a replacement in what is expected to be a closely divided House of Representatives.

Gaetz played an instrumental role in ousting former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023, which kicked off weeks of chaos in the chamber. His nomination as attorney general was met with immediate skepticism by some Senate Republicans -- which holds the power to confirm or deny his appointment.

"I don't think it's a serious nomination for the attorney general," Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters at the Capitol, according to multiple news outlets. "This one was not on my bingo card."

Trump, who faced two federal criminal indictments following the end of his four-year term in 2021, has for years railed against the Justice Department, and vowed to radically reshape it when he returns to power on Jan. 20. Gaetz on Wednesday mused publicly about abolishing the FBI, a Justice Department unit.

Trump's inner circle has described the attorney general, the country's top law enforcement official, as the most important member of the administration after the president, key to his plans to carry out mass deportations, pardon Jan. 6 rioters, and seek retribution against those who prosecuted him over the past four years.

Gaetz himself was investigated by the Justice Department for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl. His office said in 2023 that he had been told by prosecutors that he would not face criminal charges.

The Florida congressman, first elected in 2016, remains under investigation by the House of Representatives' Ethics Committee over allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and potential attempts to obstruct the probe. Gaetz has denied the claims.

Trump also faced Justice Department investigations after leaving office in 2021, leading to two criminal indictments accusing him of attempting to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election and illegally holding on to sensitive national security documents.

Trump loudly objected to both cases, accusing the Justice Department under Democratic President Joe Biden of being turned against him to damage his political prospects. A federal judge appointed by Trump threw out the documents case, and the election case is expected to be dismissed due to Trump's election victory.

Fear of Further polarization

Former Justice Department officials said they worried that Gaetz would seek to politicize the operations of the agency, which has had a decades-old tradition of independence from the White House.

"I worry that anyone who comes in as attorney general with the goal of politicizing the work of the department not only risks undermining the rule of law, but also the important safeguards that have existed to protect the legitimacy of the department’s work," said Johnathan Smith, a former deputy assistant attorney general who left the Justice Department earlier this year.

Bradley Moss, an attorney specializing in national security, said that in past administrations, someone with Gaetz's history would have raised concerns about his ability to pass security clearance reviews.

"I would be shocked to see someone with his background get cleared in an ordinary circumstance," Moss said.

A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the pick.

Gaetz worked at a Florida law firm before being elected to the House in 2016, the year Trump was first elected.

In a social media message posted hours before Trump announced his nomination, Gaetz said, "We ought to have a full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people. And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!"

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, are units of the Justice Department.

Gaetz's nomination could signal the Trump administration will continue an aggressive approach toward antitrust enforcement, particularly when it comes to Big Tech, that began under Trump and was popularized by Biden’s antitrust enforcers, including Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan.

Gaetz filed a legal brief in support of the FTC’s ban on businesses forcing workers into noncompete agreements, a rule the US Chamber of Commerce business lobbying group has sued to block.

He also praised the Justice Department's work under Biden in pursuing anti-monopoly cases against Google, and warned the company in August that it must abide by any remedy imposed in the case where a judge found it held an illegal monopoly in online search.