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Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration for US Attorney General, in a blow to Donald Trump after the president-elect chose a controversial former congressman to run the Justice Department.
Gaetz, one of Trump’s staunchest supporters, said in a post on X on Thursday that the nomination was “unfairly a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition”.
“There is no time to waste in a needlessly protracted scuffle in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from consideration to become attorney general,” Gaetz said. “Trump’s DoJ should be there and ready on Day 1.”
Trump accepted Gaetz’s decision to resign on Thursday, but did not immediately announce a new nominee for the top job at the DoJ, one of the most important positions in his incoming cabinet.
The president-elect has said he wants to use the justice system to seek “retribution” for individuals he believes have done wrong. Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s transition spokeswoman, said Thursday that the president-elect remains “committed” to appointing an attorney general who “will defend the Constitution and stop the weaponization of our justice system.”
Trump’s selection of Gaetz — a 42-year-old lawmaker from Florida with limited legal experience — for attorney general last week sent shockwaves through Washington.
Many Republican lawmakers immediately questioned the move, raising questions about whether the radical from Florida would survive the grueling Senate confirmation process. All cabinet appointees must be approved by a simple majority of the upper house of Congress.
Gaetz, who last week resigned from his congressional seat, was previously investigated by the DoJ for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an underage girl. While no charges have been brought, he has been the subject of a long-running congressional investigation by the House ethics committee into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
A congressional investigation was underway when Gaetz resigned last week. Despite calls from lawmakers Democrats, and some Republicans so that the report of the committee will be released, it chose on Wednesday to keep its discovery closed for the time being.
The committee is expected to reconsider the matter next month — though many in Washington expect the report’s findings to be leaked before then.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the committee had obtained records showing Gaetz had paid women for sex. A lawyer representing the woman who testified before the committee also told US media that someone had witnessed Gaetz having sex with an underage girl.
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
After Gaetz’s resignation, Trump praised him on his Truth Social platform, saying the former congressman had a “great future” ahead of him.
“He’s doing well but, at the same time, he doesn’t want to be a distraction for the administration, which he respects,” the president-elect said. “Matt has a great future ahead of him, and I look forward to seeing all the things he has in store!”
Gaetz’s withdrawal comes just a day after several Republican senators met on Capitol Hill accompanied by JD Vance, the Ohio senator who will be Trump’s vice president, in an effort to drum up support for the nominee.
Vance on Thursday called Gaetz a “patriot” and said he was “very grateful” for his work.
“He made the decision to step down entirely out of respect for President Trump’s administration,” Vance added in a post on X.
There are questions about who Trump might now nominate to run the DoJ in Gaetz’s place, and whether he will choose the controversial flamethrower or a more traditional candidate.
Trump has nominated Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor who represented him in the “quiet money” trial in New York, for deputy attorney general, and Jay Clayton, a former head of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as US attorney for the South. District of New York.
Additional reporting by Alex Rogers in Palm Beach
