President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general, he posted on his social media platform Wednesday afternoon.
“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,” Trump said in his social media post.
Gaetz was seen traveling with Trump in his motorcade during his visit to Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.
The Florida Republican is a firebrand and one of Trump’s most loyal allies who will now be the head of the Justice Department.
If he is confirmed by the Senate, Gaetz will succeed Attorney General Merrick Garland, who led the Justice Department as it carried out a sex-trafficking investigation into the congressman.
The DOJ ultimately declined to charge Gaetz.
He remains the subject of an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use.
Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing, said in September that he would no longer voluntarily participate in that panel’s probe.
The 42-year-old lawmaker, who has carved out a reputation as a staunch and vocal Trump loyalist, has aggressively criticized the DOJ investigation and prosecution of Trump by special counsel Jack Smith.
In October 2023, Gaetz filed the original motion to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, his fellow Republican. A band of eight Republicans led by Gaetz would ultimately join with all House Democrats in removing McCarthy as speaker, plunging the GOP conference into chaos.
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