There has been much speculation over the past 24 hours about what former congressman Matt Gaetz will do next after withdrawing his name as Donald Trump’s attorney general.
As RedState’s Jennifer Van Laar reported Thursday:
Gaetz met with several Republican senators on Wednesday to shore up support for the nomination and said that while those meetings went well, he did not want the confirmation to be a “distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance “transition”. “
They existed Reports that at least five Senate Republicans had signaled they would not vote to approve Gaetz:
- Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY)
- Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
- Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)
- Senator Markwarne Mullin (R-OK)
- Senator-elect John Curtis (R-UT)
That would put Gaetz below the threshold of votes needed for confirmation.
When Gaetz announced his withdrawal from consideration, he remarked: “There is no time to waste on an unnecessarily protracted melee in Washington, so I will be withdrawing my name from consideration for Attorney General. Trump’s Justice Department must be on site and ready on the day.” 1.”
Apparently Gaetz didn’t want to delay the process and didn’t want President-elect Trump to waste too much political capital before he even took office. Some have speculated that Gaetz withdrew because he feared that a House Ethics Committee report on the now-former congressman would be released and contain damning information.
Whatever the reason, it appeared that Matt Gaetz was now out of a job, having resigned his House seat to make a push for the top job at the Justice Department. The question remained whether he would officially withdraw his resignation and give a seat to the up-to-date Congress when it was sworn in on January 3, 2025.
Gaetz made it official on Friday: He will not return to Congress. As he told Charlie Kirk: “I will still be in the fight, but it will be from a new position. I have no plans to join the 119th Congress.”
🚨THE CHARLIE KIRK SHOW EXCLUSIVE🚨
MATT GAETZ: “I will still be in the fight, but from a new perspective. I have no plans to join the 119th Congress.”
The full interview will be published here in 30 minutes:https://t.co/YaGD2n9t8k pic.twitter.com/q26tsxySBw
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 22, 2024
Gaetz noted to Kirk that he has held elected office since he was 26 and now, at age 42, he has other opportunities that he would like to pursue. He is now married and probably wants to spend more time with his family.
There were some signs that Gaetz was thinking about leaving his House career behind him:
Unemployment has never looked so good pic.twitter.com/wGfxr2HjDg
– Ginger Gaetz (@GingerLGaetz) November 22, 2024
Matt Gaetz is unlikely to leave Washington, DC in the dust. Media is a perfect fit for Gaetz, so this door must be open to him. Some have speculated whether Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) would consider Gaetz for the Senate seat that will become vacant when Marco Rubio (R-FL) resigns to be confirmed as Donald Trump’s secretary of state.
There is another option: a break appointment. Trump has open was in favor of using this tool to guide some of its appointees through the process. This appears to be a way to get Gaetz a job in the Trump administration while forgoing an uphill battle in the Senate.
