Donald Trump has announced his intention to nominate the controversial firebrand Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz as the US' Attorney General, placing a loyal supporter in the position of the country's chief prosecutor. But with an ethics probe into sexual misconduct and drug use hanging over him, Florida Representative Gaetz, 42, has proved a shocking and surprising pick across the political divide in Washington.
Gaetz has shown unwavering loyalty to Trump, a likely reason for his selection with other extreme loyalists being awarded top jobs, including Fox News talking head Pete Hesgeth as Defence Secretary. "Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department," President-Elect Trump said in a statement.
The decision comes as a surprise on Capitol Hill given Gaetz's history of vehemently criticising the Department of Justice for its investigations into the former president, including four criminal indictments, two of which were federal. The 42-year-old Congressman has himself faced repeated investigations, both into allegation of sex trafficking in Florida which were later dropped, and into his role in the January 6 insurrection in 2021, where Trump supporters stormed the halls of Congress with the aim of stopping the transfer of power.
He has repeatedly lambasted special counsel Jack Smith over the cases against President-elect Trump, and called for the case's dismissal. Gaetz, a lawyer himself, is one of the most ardent MAGA supporters in Congress, forming part of a far-right Republican group that has proved destructive to the party's razor-thin majority in the US' lower chamber.
Significantly, Gaetz spearheaded the campaign to depose former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023, using a small group of die-hard MAGA Republicans to push the party's leadership further right. The schemes not only attracted a torrent of criticism towards Gaetz from within the party but has added another layer of controversy to Trump's post-election cabinet choices, given Gaetz is also under a House Ethics Committee investigation.
However, before Representative Gaetz can ascend to the top of the US legal system, he will have to be approved by a majority of the US Senate - which President-elect Trump also won in his shock election victory.
Ohio Representative Max Miller told Politico that Trump's choice of Gaetz was “a reckless pick.” With his track record and own legal woes, the Republican was scathing, saying: “I think he has a zero percent shot of getting through the Senate,