(The hill) – Republican senators are warning that Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) nomination to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general is in serious trouble, even though Republicans will control 53 seats next year.
Gaetz will get a chance to make his case for why he should lead the Justice Department, but Republican senators warn he faces a “steep” road to confirmation.
Additionally, Republican senators support Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) call to the House Ethics Committee on Thursday publish the findings his investigation into Gaetz for alleged sexual misconduct and illegal drug exploit.
Two moderate Republican senators, Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), have already spoken out forceful reservations about Gaetz’s appointment as attorney general.
Four Republicans would have to vote against Gaetz to kill his nomination, and GOP members warn he will likely face opposition from other members of their conference.
“He’s got a steep climb ahead of him,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) said when asked about Gaetz’s nomination.
Other GOP sources say Gaetz’s nomination is in serious trouble.
Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who has a number of friends in the Senate GOP conference, told Bloomberg Television that Gaetz will not get the 50 votes he needs to become attorney general.
“Look, Gaetz will not be confirmed” he told the outlet. “Everyone knows that.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told The Hill that McCarthy’s dire prediction was probably spot on.
“I think he’s actually pretty right,” he said.
But he said Trump’s decision to nominate Gaetz could have a strategic value that his Republican colleagues in the Senate – and political experts – cannot currently understand.
“Donald Trump is a smart guy. You never know his motives,” he said.
Cramer said, “Gaetz is more than capable of making the case as to why that is.” [Department of Justice] should be turned on its head,” but added that Gaetz “simply doesn’t have the moral authority” to shake up the department after it became embroiled in a federal sex trafficking investigation.
“I’m glad I’m not in the judiciary, so to speak,” he said, alluding to what is expected to be a bitter committee-level fight over Gaetz.
Some Senate Republican sources speculate that Trump’s choice of Gaetz to head the Justice Department may be intended to divert attention and opposition from other controversial nominations.
Two more controversial ones nominees are Pete Hegseth, the Fox News host whom Trump chose to lead the Pentagon, and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), Trump’s choice to serve as director of national intelligence despite having served as Syria’s director in the past Defended President Bashar al-Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Another bombshell dropped on Senate Republicans Thursday afternoon when Trump said he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has raised concerns about the safety of vaccines as well as fluoride in tap water.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, told reporters Thursday that his panel should have access to the results of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into Gaetz.
Cornyn said if the House panel found evidence of a crime, “that would certainly be relevant.”
“I’m not going to speculate what the report shows, but that would certainly be concerning,” he said of evidence of sexual misconduct or illegal drug exploit.
Murkowski said Wednesday that Gaetz failed her.
“I don’t think this is a serious nomination for attorney general. We need a serious attorney general,” she said.
Collins said she was “shocked” when she learned of Gaetz’s nomination.
“I’m sure there will be many, many questions raised at Mr. Gaetz’s confirmation hearing if the nomination is actually accepted,” she said.
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who was elected Senate majority leader next year, told reporters Wednesday that he won’t know whether Gaetz has the votes for confirmation until the Senate formally receives its votes and with the Verification begins nomination.
“I won’t know until we start the process, and that’s exactly what we want to do with him and any other potential nominees,” he said.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Gaetz has “some work to do” to get enough votes for passage in the Senate.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said his Republican colleagues’ “jaws dropped” when they learned of Gaetz’s nomination.
“You are faced with a very difficult decision. Many of them know Matt Gaetz. You know the investigation against him,” he said in an interview with CNN. “Matt Gaetz is being nominated because he will be, and still is, a political operative for Donald Trump. The impact of this election, this particular election, is breathtaking.”
Trump’s controversial choice to lead the Justice Department, the Pentagon, the nation’s intelligence agencies and the Health and Human Services Department is already causing tensions among Senate Republicans.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), a staunch Trump ally, warned his fellow Republican senators that they should fall in line and vote for Trump’s nominee or face political consequences.
“Republicans, if you’re not on the team, get out of the way,” Tuberville said in an interview with Fox Business Network.
And he suggested Republican colleagues who vote against Trump nominees would face primary challengers.
“If you want to get in the way, fine. But we will try to get you out of the Senate too if you try that,” he said.
He urged his Republican colleagues to allow Trump to fill his Cabinet with the people he wants and not to interfere, even though the Constitution assigns the Senate the task of giving advice and consent to nominees for the executive and judicial branches.
“Everyone has an opinion up here, but at the end of the day, President Trump was elected by a huge majority and he deserves the team he wants around him,” he argued. “It’s not up to us to determine that.”
Those statements didn’t sit well with Murkowski, who, as a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, will vote on Kennedy’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services.
She said senators have a duty to carefully evaluate candidates and assess their suitability for key positions and not let concerns about possible political repercussions guide their decisions.
“There is a process; It’s not discretionary,” she said of the Senate’s duty to advise and approve nominees.
She disputed Tuberville’s assertion that “it’s not up to us to decide” whether Trump’s nominees should serve in his Cabinet.
“It’s in the Constitution. It says: “That is the role of the Senate,” she said. “As a member of the Senate, I firmly believe that we have our duty to do just as much as the President has his authority.
“I will not accept that the United States Senate should be just an extension of the White House. We are our own separate but equal institution,” she said.
