(AP) As President-elect Donald Trump digs in on his pick of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Republican senators are divided over how much information they will demand to move his confirmation — and how much to push back on Trump as he demands that they quickly rubber stamp his Cabinet once he takes office in January.
Gaetz, who has been calling senators and is expected to start meeting with some of them as soon as this week, is an unconventional pick for the nation’s top law enforcement official. His nomination creates a confirmation climb in the Senate, where many Republicans are deeply uncomfortable with his selection.
The Florida Republican spent his congressional career agitating against the Justice Department and has faced a House Ethics investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct — allegations Gaetz denies. He is also deeply unpopular within his own party after leading the push to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.
Publicly, Republican senators say they will give Gaetz the same due process that they give any other nominee. Most are loath to criticize him directly. But they are split on whether to demand access to the ethics report, which the House ethics committee could choose to release after Gaetz resigned from the House last week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has positioned himself as Trump’s top ally in Congress, said last week that he will “strongly request” that the Ethics committee not release the results of its investigation.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who will become Senate majority leader in January, deferred to Johnson, saying Monday that the ethics report is “a House issue.” But several in his conference argued that the Senate should see the report, whether it is released publicly or not.
“There’s nothing about that that would smell right, to say, ‘Hey, there’s a report but none of us want to see it,’” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served in the House with Gaetz, said the ethics report is important for the Senate’s “advice and consent” role laid out in the Constitution. “I think the report from the House plays a pivotal role in that,” he said.
Others said the information would come out one way or another, even if it isn't released. “I’m going to honor Speaker Johnson’s position," said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. "I think it’s a reasonable position.”
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The simmering clash between the Senate, House and Trump could be just the first of many to come. Trump has made clear he expects next year’s unified Republican Congress to give him broad leeway on his nominees, and has already been making some calls to senators.
Cabinet nominees have traditionally provided a flood of paperwork to Senate committees ahead of their confirmation hearings, participating in background checks by the FBI and filling out lengthy questionnaires that probe every aspect of their lives and careers. But Trump’s transition has already signaled that it might not request the background checks and has so far declined to sign agreements with the White House and the Department of Justice to allow that process to begin.
The documentation, including the criminal background checks and financial vetting, could be key for senators in both parties who have questions about Gaetz and some of Trump's other more controversial nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services. --
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