The Controversial Appointment Of Matt Gaetz For Attorney General By Donald Trump
Alex Lloyd Gross Photo- Delaware Valley News.com File Photo Matt Gaetz in Philadelphia.
President Elect Donald Trump has asked Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz (r) to be the next United States Attorney General. The person in this position is appointed by and serves at the whim of the President Of the United States. The issue with Gaetz is that he is under an investigation by the US Congress for allegedly having sex with a 17 year old girl when he was an adult.
Gaetz has said he will refuse to cooperate with any congressional subpoena, nor will he answer questions from the committee about who his adult sex partners were. When Trump tapped him for the AG position, Gaetz immediately resigned his congressional seat.
The Florida seat is now open and there will be a special election held in Florida. This is risky. The election will be held before the new congress is sworn in. It is quite possible that the republicans can lose the seat now held by Gaetz. Should they hold onto it, a republican will retain the seat and the majority in the house.
Because Gaetz resigned, the investigation is dead in it’s tracks. It will not continue. The United States Senate still has to confirm Gaetz for the position and he is not guaranteed to get confirmed. Hearings will be held and he will be grilled relentlessly by those against him.
President Elect Trump issued a statement on Gaetz that reads:
“It is my Great Honor to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The Attorney General of the United States. Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice. Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.
On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization. He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law. Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ. Under Matt’s leadership, all Americans will be proud of the Department of Justice once again.”
Just because someone gets appointed, does not mean they get confirmed. Some appointments that did not go through include Robert Bork for the US Supreme Court 30 years ago and Andy Puzder for Labor Secretary under Donald Trump in 2016.
If Gaetz does not get confirmed, he is free to run again to reclaim his congressional seat.