Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's pick as attorney general, noting in a social media post that his nomination had become a distraction.
Gaetz held multiple meetings with GOP senators over the past couple of days as he sought to game out his chances of getting confirmed, with Vice President-elect JD Vance assisting in his confirmation process. Even senators who supported him had expressed doubts that he could get confirmed, given he could only lose three Republican votes.
"It is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1," Gaetz wrote on X.
Trump praised Gaetz’s decision in a social media post soon after, saying the decision has his “respect” and that “Matt has a wonderful future.”
Gaetz was seen as Trump’s most controversial pick. Almost immediately after Trump announced Gaetz was his pick to lead the Department of Justice, the campaign and senators were peppered with questions about his alleged sexual misconduct and drug use — accusations Gaetz has denied.
Multiple senators appeared relieved that Gaetz withdrew immediately after the announcement.
“I think what I just read was that he felt this was going to be a major distraction, and so good on him to recognize that and be self-aware,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
“There were a lot of red flags. … He put country first,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who had cast doubt on Gaetz’s ability to get confirmed. “I think it probably reflects the meetings that he had yesterday with senators as they started going through the judiciary committee members.”
Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters, “I respect his decision,” and noted that Gaetz had not called him ahead of the announcement. Incoming Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said he was also not given a heads-up on the withdrawal.
The news came as some senators said they wanted to see a long-awaited House Ethics Committee report that detailed findings on some of the allegations against Gaetz. The panel had punted on a decision to release it, but even some House Republicans had voiced support for at least sharing the investigative findings with senators as they considered Gaetz for attorney general. It’s unclear if that position will change now that he’s withdrawn, though Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said he still planned to try to force a vote on the House floor to release the report.
“It remains important that the Gaetz report be made available to the American people,” Casten said in a statement.
Gaetz was also controversial among Republicans for his role as the architect of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s ouster. And that put some of McCarthy’s allies in the upper chamber in an unenviable position, like Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), who remains close to McCarthy.
“I think because of the reports that were coming out, it was probably a good decision,” Mullin told POLITICO. “I'm sure he talked to the president about it first, so the details of … what finally did that, I don't know, but I think it's a positive move.”
Trump’s announcement that he was picking Gaetz to be his attorney general last week came shortly after the president-elect had publicly called for the power to make recess appointments, which would effectively allow him to bypass the Senate’s consideration of his top Cabinet picks.
While the Senate appeared loath to relinquish their advice and consent power over the executive branch even before Gaetz, his announcement appeared to strengthen those stances.
“I won't go into second guessing the president. The president has the right to make the nominations that he sees fit. But the Senate also has a responsibility for advice and consent — and in this particular case, I think there was advice offered, rather than consent,” said Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.).
Republican senators like Rounds also quickly indicated they are ready to assess Trump’s second pick for the job.
“This provides the president an opportunity to look at other very qualified individuals who can help to revamp the Justice Department and probably a number of them would be very acceptable to members of the Senate, who really do want to see the President's agenda move forward,” Rounds added.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) put forward the name of Ken Paxton, Texas’ attorney general.
And Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was supportive of Gaetz, said he hopes Trump will pick someone like Gaetz “that also will be a disruptor and get rid of the politicization at the DOJ.”
Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), who had previously ruled himself out of the running for the job, said he has not changed his mind in light of Gaetz’s withdrawal.
Sen. Rick Scott, when asked if GOP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should appoint Gaetz to the Senate to replace Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, said, “I think Lara Trump is a great pick. But Matt would be a great person. But I think Lara would do a great job.” Scott also said he had not talked to Gaetz before the announcement.
Democrats, meanwhile, took the news with feigned surprise and sarcasm.
“So much fun we’re going to miss,” quipped Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), when asked for his reaction, faked shock and sarcastically said: “Gaetz? Didn’t work out?”
Daniella Diaz, Katherine Tully-McManus, Jordain Carney, Mia McCarthy, Ursula Perano, Nicholas Wu and Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.
