By MARY CLARE JALONICK and STEPHEN GROVES
WASHINGTON (AP) — As President-elect Donald Trump digs deeper into his choice former Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney generalRepublican senators are divided over how much information they will demand to make his nomination — and how much they should push back on Trump as he demands they quickly put a stamp on his Cabinet once he takes office in January.
Gaetz, who is expected to begin meeting with senators as early as this week, is an unconventional choice for the nation’s top law enforcement official, setting up a confirmation climb in the Senate where many Republicans are deeply uncomfortable with his selection.
The Florida Republican spent his career in Congress agitating against the Justice Department and has had run-ins with it a study of home ethics into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct. Gaetz denies the allegations.
Publicly, Republican senators say they will give Gaetz the same due process as any other nominee. Most are loathe to criticize him directly. But they are divided over whether to demand access to the ethics report, which the House ethics committee could release after Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives last week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has positioned himself as Trump’s key ally in Congress, said last week he will “strong request” that the ethics committee does not release the results of its research.
Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who will become Senate majority leader in January, deferred to Johnson, saying Monday that the ethics report is “a House matter.” But several at his conference argued that the Senate should see the report whether it is released publicly or not.
“There’s nothing about that that would smell good if you said, ‘Hey, there’s a report, but none of us want to see it,’” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served in the House of Representatives with Gaetz, said the ethics report is important to the Senate’s role of “advice and consent” as enshrined in the Constitution. “I think the House of Representatives report plays a crucial role in this,” he said.
Others said the information would get out somehow even if it is not released. “I’m going to honor Speaker Johnson’s position,” said Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina. “I think it’s a reasonable position.”
The simmering clash between the Senate, House of Representatives and Trump could be just the first of many. Trump has made clear that he expects next year’s unified Republican Congress to give him wide latitude on his nominees.
Cabinet nominees have traditionally provided a barrage of paperwork to Senate committees ahead of their confirmation hearings, participated in FBI background checks and completed lengthy questionnaires that examine every aspect of their lives and careers. But the Trump transition has already signaled that the country may not require background checks and has so far refused to sign agreements with the White House and Justice Department to allow that process to begin.
The documentation, including the criminal background checks and financial vetting, could be crucial to senators from both parties who have questions about Gaetz and some of Trump’s other, more controversial nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Lacking the traditional process, it would be up to individual committee chairs to proceed without an FBI background check, who will be under immense pressure from Trump and his allies to quickly move his nominees. Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the new No. 2 Republican under Thune, said Tuesday that the Senate will begin hearings once Republicans gain a majority on Jan. 3 and hold confirmation votes once Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Republican senators say they will require that documentation, but it’s unclear how that could work if the Trump transition doesn’t agree to it.
“I think if they want a speedy hearing on this nomination, we need to have as much transparency as possible,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year. “Because you’ve heard my colleagues, especially on the Republican side, say they have some questions.”
Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the new chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wants a traditional process with a full FBI background check for Hegseth and the committee’s other nominees. “We have to do it by the numbers,” Wicker said.
Democrats, however, are wary that the trial could be confused or shortened as Trump applies the full force of his pressure on Senate Republicans.
“If there’s a cursory background check, like we’re calling 20 people, that’s not appropriate,” said Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who will be the panel’s top Democrat next year.
In the meantime. Gaetz has already visited at least one group of potential allies, the far-right House Freedom Caucus, where he outlined to the group “some of the things that need to be done at the Justice Department to end the armament.” said Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., the chairman of the Freedom Caucus.
One of the ideas Gaetz discussed was “eliminating a large portion of the senior staff,” Harris said.
As for the sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz, Harris dismissed them, saying, “Last time I checked, in America, you’re innocent until proven guilty.” He said he did not believe the House Ethics files on Gaetz should be released.
“We believe the President deserves to have his Cabinet selections approved, and Mr. Gaetz knows what he needs to do to end the weaponization of the department,” Harris said.
Speaker Johnson also made his position clear on Tuesday, telling reporters that the Senate should do its job and “certainly take a look, do a deep dive” and then forward them for confirmation so that “the president has the team to to do what the American people chose him to do.”
“I think President Trump is looking for individuals who will shake up the status quo,” Johnson said. “And we have been given a mandate in this election cycle to do that.”
Originally published: November 19, 2024 at 2:12 PM PST