The Chaotic Scene When Senators Learned Trump Nominated Matt Gaetz for Attorney General

The news that Donald Trump was nominating Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general was perfectly timed in one respect: getting reaction from senators.

Minutes after Trump made his announcement, senators were emerging from an afternoon vote series — just in time for reporters to inform these senators of Trump’s decision.

The reaction, in a word, was stunned.

Fresh off of losing his decades-long dream to be GOP Senate leader, Sen. John Cornyn was visibly shocked when reporters told him the news. One reporter said Cornyn learned about the nomination and delivered an “audible snort.” Another reporter said a shocked look flashed across Cornyn’s face, “like he tasted something strange.”

Once he calmed down, Cornyn was more evasive than surprised.

“I don’t really know him,” Cornyn said of Gaetz, “other than his public persona.”

That public persona is known to be checkered at best and downright criminal at worst — depending on who you ask.

Less than two years ago, Gaetz was the subject of a DOJ investigation for sex trafficking a minor — among other allegations. While the Justice Department ultimately declined to prosecute Gaetz, there was plenty of discussion about Gaetz attending sex parties where a 17-year-old girl was present. One of Gaetz’s close friends, Joel Greenberg, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sex trafficking of a minor — and Greenberg wrote a confession letter saying he and Gaetz had both had sex with the 17-year-old minor.

When reporters asked Cornyn about the ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into Gaetz, the Texas Republican deadpanned, “Well, that might come up.”

Other senators were just as surprised as Cornyn by the nomination.

“This one — ” Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a clamoring gaggle of reporters, “this one was not on my bingo card.”

Murkowski, one of the chief GOP suspects to vote against Gaetz’s confirmation, said she didn’t think he was a “serious” nominee for attorney general.

“We need to have a serious attorney general,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious.”

Already, Gaetz’s confirmation appears to be somewhat in doubt.

“Matt’s well known. He’s also well known for a few of his criticisms of people in the Senate,” Sen. Thom Tillis told NOTUS, adding that he’s “going to have to overcome some of his temperament as it relates to some of his Republican colleagues.”

Sen. Joni Ernst said Gaetz had “his work cut out for him” in terms of confirmation.

And another senator, a frequent Trump skeptic, put the challenge of a Gaetz confirmation in blunter terms.

“I’m certain,” Sen. Susan Collins told reporters, “that there will be a lot of questions.”

Collins added that she was “shocked” by the announcement and said this shows “why the advice and consent process is so important.”

While there are already doubts about Gaetz’s ability to get Senate confirmation, that wasn’t much comfort to Democrats, particularly after Trump suggested he wants to use “recess appointments” to bypass the Senate for certain nominees.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal — who was a rumored AG pick for a Kamala Harris administration — was truly stunned.

“I’m having trouble believing it,” he said.

Rep. Maxwell Frost, a Democrat from Florida, texted NOTUS his reaction.

“The guy with a current House Ethics probe on sexual misconduct?” Frost said of Gaetz. “What the fuck!”

And Democratic Sen. Chris Coons said he was “literally speechless.”

But perhaps the most disturbed lawmakers were Gaetz’s fellow House Republicans.

“Are you shitting me?” an incredulous Rep. Mike Simpson said when reporters informed him about the cabinet pick.

“I’m still trying to digest it,” Rep. Michael McCaul told NOTUS.

Gaetz is perhaps the most hated House Republican among House Republicans. Just over a year ago, he led the charge to remove then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and fellow GOP lawmakers have been some of his harshest critics.

One House Republican — a former Trump official — was visibly excited by the nomination, but not because he thought Gaetz was a strong pick; he thought Gaetz would either make a fool of himself or no longer be his colleague in the House.

“He’ll never get confirmed, it’s the greatest day,” Rep. Max Miller said. “It’s the best birthday I’ve ever had.”

Still, plenty of Republicans quickly fell in line behind Trump.

Rep. Thomas Massie, a self-described “constitutional conservative,” predicted that Gaetz would get confirmed through a “recess appointment.”

“He’s the attorney general,” Massie told reporters. “Suck it up.”

Sen.-elect Rep. Jim Banks told NOTUS that he and Gaetz are “friends” and that he thinks he’d do “a good job for the president.”

When pressed whether he has concerns about the ongoing Ethics investigation into Gaetz’s conduct, Banks claimed that had been resolved.

“I think that’s over with,” Banks said, incorrectly. “So Matt Gaetz is a fighter.”

Sen. Markwayne Mullin — a senator under consideration for a cabinet position himself — has previously called Gaetz a “liar” on social media, saying those who have worked with Gaetz know he’s a liar and that he should “focus on his own ethics issues instead of spreading false Hill rumors.”

By Wednesday evening, Mullin said he was willing to put his squabbles aside. “We’ve had our differences, that has been very public,” Mullin said on CNN. “But I completely trust the president.”

And true to form, Trump’s more popular nominee for secretary of state, Sen. Marco Rubio, defended his fellow cabinet nominee.

“I’ve known Matt for a long time,” Rubio told reporters. “He would do a good job, and presidents deserve great deference in choosing those who serve in their cabinet.”

—
Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS. Ben T.N. Mause, Katherine Swartz and Nuha Dolby are NOTUS reporters and Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.