Former Representative Matt Gaetz‘s Florida hometown newspaper bluntly called out President-elect Donald Trump‘s recent judicial nomination, with the editorial board writing on Thursday that the Republican “must never become America’s attorney general.”
Trump called Gaetz a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney” when he announced his pick for U.S. attorney general on Truth Social on Wednesday. As U.S. attorney general, Gaetz would “root out systemic corruption” at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the president-elect wrote.
Gaetz, a fierce Trump loyalist who has frequently criticized the DOJ, resigned from his House seat shortly after the announcement. Meanwhile, legal experts have questioned Trump’s selection due to Gaetz’s limited legal experience and because he’s being tapped to lead a department that previously investigated him.
The editorial board of South Florida’s Sun Sentinel, which circulates throughout Fort Lauderdale, and the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach, heavily condemned Gaetz in an opinion article titled, “Matt Gaetz is Trump’s tool for retribution” on Thursday.
Gaetz, who is originally from Hollywood, Florida, which is located in Broward County, represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District in the state’s western Panhandle where he attended high school.
The newspaper’s editorial board called upon the U.S. Senate to “prevent” Gaetz’s from taking the top post, writing that “to not do so would disgrace the country and strip the Senate of all credibility.”
Republicans secured a majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2024 election, holding at least 52 seats in the upper chamber.
While many Democrats have criticized Gaetz’s nomination, the move surprised some Republicans as well, including Republican Maine Senator Susan Collins who said she was “shocked” at the nomination and expects “there will be many, many questions raised” during his confirmation hearing.
Republican North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said that he expects Gaetz has “probably got some work cut out for him” before being confirmed, adding that not “a single Democrat” will vote in his favor.
Newsweek has reached to Gaetz’s former press secretary for comment via email on Sunday.
The Senate is responsible for confirming appointees via majority vote. However, recess appointments, which take place when the Senate is out of session, allow appointees to bypass Senate confirmation hearings, temporarily putting them in their positions.
Newly named Senate Majority Leader, John Thune of South Dakota, has suggested that recess appointments could be a potential strategy to push through Trump’s Cabinet appointments.
“I think that all options are on the table, including recess appointments. Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that but we’ll find out fairly quickly whether the Democrats want to play ball or not,” Thune said on Thursday during an interview with Fox News.
The Associated Press, which cited the Congressional Research Service, reported that former President Barack Obama made 32 recess appointments, ex-President George W. Bush made 171 and former President Bill Clinton made 139 while the Senate was on recess.
“For senators to allow Gaetz to become attorney general through a recess appointment would be a complete abdication of the Senate’s constitutional advise and consent responsibility,” the Sun Sentinel‘s editorial board wrote.
It also noted the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz over allegations that he “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use” and was part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. He has denied any wrongdoing.
His resignation from the House concludes the probe into his alleged misconduct, but the report could still be published if a majority of the committee agrees.
The newspaper called Gaetz a “rogue Florida congressman,” and “provocateur who’s good at delivering rhetorical red meat on the MAGA speaking circuit.” The editorial board added that his attorney general nomination “lays bare the depth of Trump’s contempt for our vital national law enforcement apparatus and his determination to use it as a blunt instrument to seek revenge on his opponents.”
The newspaper’s editorial board concluded: “Gaetz, who has called for defunding the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies, should be kept as far as possible from the Justice Department.”
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