President Trump announced that he was going to nominate Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. The smoke you smell on the coasts is not from brush fires. It is the left-wing establishment’s hair on fire – which makes me laugh.
In my opinion, Matt Gaetz will never be Attorney General – and I believe Trump knows it.
If reports are accurate, the announcement about Gaetz was made at the last minute by Trump personally. Gaetz was not on the list of likely candidates for the nation’s top law enforcement office, which means that he did not go through the transition team’s vetting process. The announcement itself seemed off-handed and unserious.
There are a lot of reasons why Gaetz would not be a good choice as Attorney General. Personally, I have always viewed Gaetz as a grandstanding sleaze bag. That may seem harsh, but it is how I have seen him throughout his congressional career.
He was the primary provocateur of the GOP revolt against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. I was never a fan of McCarthy — as evident in a number of past commentaries – but removing him from that post at that time was political malpractice. It put the House through a prolonged,15 vote embarrassment.
The fact that the GOP ultimately wound up with a much better House Speaker in Mike Johnson does not justify Gaetz tactics and antics. Gaetz was not an enthusiastic supporter of Johnson – and has since expressed misgivings about the Speaker. At one point, he even talked of trying to oust Johnson.
Critics of the Gaetz appointment point out that he was once under investigation for sex trafficking – a case that involved a 17-year-old underage girl. A Gaetz friend is currently serving time for his involvement in an associated case.
However, Gaetz was never indicted. The charges were dropped by the Biden Department of Justice in 2023. Under American rule-of-law that means Gaetz is to be considered to be innocent of the accusations no matter what you believe about his alleged involvement with an underage girl. It is sleazy of Gaetz critics to keep harping on that issue since the DOJ could not make a case. There is more than enough to criticize without resorting to slander as a response.
Gaetz has also been the subject of a congressional ethics investigation – and a report was to be issued at any moment. I say “has been subject of a congressional ethics investigation” because Gaetz resigned from Congress – and that immediately shut down the ethics investigation. In fact, his effort to end the ethics investigation appears to be the ONLY reason for his sudden resignation. If the Ethics Committee report on Gaetz is not released, I suspect it will be leaked.
Just for the record, Gaetz also has a DUI conviction. That may be notable, but not all that significant in a world in which a lot of folks have one – including political figures.
When I say Trump’s proposing to officially nominate Gaetz is a joke it is because Trump must know a Gaetz nomination will be a very steep uphill effort in the Senate. Virtually impossible. Trump’s motive may have already been achieved – and that is setting all that lefty hair on fire.
He poked the left-wing hornets’ nest and dominated another news cycle. He them in panic with their speculative doom and gloom reports. Mass resignations at the DOJ. Trump put them back on their absurd “end of the American Republic” campaign narrative.
I see no way that a Gaetz appointment would obtain enough support in the Senate to confirm him for that post – and perhaps any post in the federal government. Frankly, I would be surprised if Trump followed through with an official nomination. Upon hearing of his being named for the AG post, I immediately conjured up enough names of senators who I believe would vote “no”.
Gaetz, himself, realizes that he would never get the necessary votes in the Senate. In a past Newsmax interview, there was jocular speculation of an “Attorney General Gaetz.” Gaetz conceded that he would never get sufficient votes to be confirmed by the Senate.
Is there another reason for floating out Gaetz name? Perhaps it is just to give Gaetz cover for resigning from Congress to pursue the AG job. That is possible, but there is no reason for a nominee to resign before confirmation. Also, his resignation reduces the GOP narrow majority in the House. The resignation has more to do with the ethics probe than the AG nomination.
But … what about one of those recess appointments?
When the Senate is in recess, a President has the power to make a recess appointment. The appointee can serve in the post in an acting capacity for up to a year – maybe more. But the Senate has to be in recess – not just on a short adjournment.
That distinction came to play when President Obama attempted to make recess appointments when the Senate adjourned for a holiday. The issue went to the Supreme Court which decided that Obama had abused his power, and those appointments were nullified.
(Contrary to the impression you get from the anti-Trump news media, Trump did not invent the recess appointment — and is not the first President to make such appointments. Although not a recess appointment, it is noteworthy that the current head of the Labor Department is an “acting” Secretary of Labor who took over the post upon the resignation of her boss. The point is, she is holding a job without Senate confirmation. But I digress.)
Since a recess appointment can be made only when the Senate is in recess, the question is … will the Senate go into recess at any time in the next couple years for no other reason than to allow Trump to make such appointments? It does not have to do so. It can function quite well without an official recess.
Trump has proposed that the Senate go into recess so he can make such appointments. I am not convinced that it will. That would surrender a lot of power to the President. It would circumvent and undermine the balance of power that the Founders so carefully crafted in the Constitution.
The possibility that Gaetz could get a recess appointment should be enough for the Senate to not go into any recesses simply to give Trump recess appointments. I do not believe that Gaetz will ever be confirmed by the Senate – at least I hope not. I do not believe he will ever serve as Attorney General. But … Trump sure knows how to craze the crazies. And seeing all that hyper hysteria from the left is worth the good laugh.
So, there ‘tis.