President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday evening nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be the U.S. Attorney General for his second term, pending Senate confirmation.
Trump made the pick several hours after his original nominee, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-FL, withdrew from consideration after eight days. Multiple moderate members of the Republican Senate conference had expressed reservations about Gaetz’s nomination.
Bondi served as the chief prosecutor of the Sunshine State from 2011 to 2019 and was the first woman to hold the position.
“Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social.
“Then as Florida’s first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country,” he continued.
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Trump noted that Bondi “did such an incredible job” tackling the drug epidemic “that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first term.”
“For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans – Not anymore,” Trump stressed. “Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again.”
Gaetz responded to the announcement on X (formerly Twitter), calling Bondi “a stellar selection by President Trump for Attorney General.”
“Pam and I worked closely together when she was Florida’s Attorney General and I chaired Criminal Justice in the state house,” Gaetz wrote. “She’s a proven litigator, an inspiring leader and a champion for all Americans. She will bring the needed reforms to DOJ.”
Bondi is widely considered to have a significantly easier path to being confirmed by the Senate than Gaetz did.
In another post to X Thursday afternoon, Gaetz wrote, “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”
Gaetz said that he came to his decision following “excellent meetings with Senators” the day before.
“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,” he stated. “Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1. I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history.”
“I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I’m certain he will Save America,” Gaetz concluded.
Following Gaetz’s decision, Trump wrote in a post to TRUTH Social: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General.”
“He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” the president-elect continued. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”
An individual described as an “insider” told The New York Post that Gaetz withdrew because he “didn’t have the votes” in the Senate “and realized it.”
The Post reported that Gaetz withdrew with a “potentially damning congressional ethics report still hanging over his head.”
The conservative former lawmaker’s critics have accused him “of alleged drug abuse and sexual misconduct, among other transgressions,” the Post noted:
Female witnesses who testified to both federal and congressional investigators alleged that the then-congressman had sex with them for money — making more than $10,000 in Venmo payments, according to transaction records obtained by ABC News.
…
Gaetz has vehemently denied all allegations, saying the claims from witnesses “are invented and would constitute false testimony to Congress” and “should be viewed with great skepticism.”
Gaetz represented northwestern Florida in Congress from 2017 until his resignation last week – the day Trump nominated him for attorney general.
CatholicVote indicated that during his tenure, Gaetz has “established himself as a steadfast defender of Trump against attacks by Democrats” and “a prominent member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.”
“An attorney by trade, Gaetz has described himself as a ‘firebrand’ congressman, and has been extensively critical of the Biden-Harris Department of Justice (DOJ),” CatholicVote added.
The is some speculation that Gaetz might return to his former Congressional seat in a month and a half – to which he was re-elected in a landslide on November 5.
Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman pointed out on X that Gaetz resigned from the current Congressional term, which ends in January, but that he can theoretically still assume his seat in the next one.
LifeNews Note: Joshua Mercer writes for CatholicVote, where this column originally appeared.
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