Trump picks Gaetz and Gabbard for top jobs, daring Senate GOP to defy him

Donald Trump named Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, a fierce ally and a divisive figure who was investigated for sex trafficking but not criminally charged, as his pick for attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement job, on Wednesday.

Minutes earlier, the president-elect had announced that he would tap former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has no direct experience in intelligence, as his director of national intelligence.

Gabbard and Gaetz join Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News weekend co-host who lobbied Trump to pardon military service members accused of war crimes, as choices who would be certain to face near universal opposition from Democrats and have some Republicans expressing concern.

The president-elect’s first handful of picks went to people broadly acceptable to his Republican coalition, including his co-campaign manager Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) as secretary of state and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Florida) as national security adviser.

But Trump’s decision to choose Gabbard, Gaetz and Hegseth stunned senators and some of his own advisers, setting up multiple uphill confirmation battles that will test the incoming president’s political clout in the Senate, where his party is expected to hold 53 seats.

Gaetz, who has alienated many members of his own party, had been facing a House ethics probe over allegations of sexual misconduct, illegal drug use and accepting improper gifts. He resigned from Congress on Wednesday. House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest (R-Mississippi), whose committee typically ends inquiries when members resign from Congress, told reporters on Wednesday that the panel would not rush out a report on Gaetz, who has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump is still toying with nominating anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a Cabinet job, according to two people close to him who, like some others interviewed for this story, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the president-elect’s thinking.

“They think they’re owning the libs, but a lot of their nominees’ dirty laundry will get aired this way,” said Marc Short, a former adviser to Trump’s first-term vice president, Mike Pence. “It hurts their own credibility, and I felt like it was off to a good start.”

Trump took special interest in his choice to lead the Justice Department, advisers said, believing his first-term attorneys general let him down and the Biden administration tried to ruin him with prosecutions that he has said were politicized. Trump was indicted by a federal special counsel acting independently of the White House, and by two local district attorneys who were elected Democrats.

As a member of the House Judiciary Committee, Gaetz frequently pressured Biden administration officials over the Trump prosecutions, investigations into Biden’s son Hunter, prosecutions of Trump supporters who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and communication with social media companies about online misinformation.

“He wants someone who will go to war for him,” said one ally, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.

Trump’s statement announcing Gaetz emphasized the Florida congressman’s role in defending him from the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and commitment to pursuing allegations of political bias at the FBI. Gaetz has repeatedly called for breaking up or abolishing the premier federal law enforcement agency, which is part of the Justice Department.

“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,” Trump said in the announcement. “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.”

Justice Department officials have denied Republican claims of political bias. Since the Watergate scandal, the agency has developed a practice of limiting White House involvement in law enforcement decisions. Trump allies involved in planning a second term said he will bring the department back under direct presidential control, and Trump himself has suggested using the department to retaliate against his critics and political opponents.

Gaetz traveled with Trump to Washington on Wednesday, where the president-elect participated in a customary Oval Office sit-down with the outgoing president, Joe Biden, and visited an exuberant House Republican conference on the cusp of cementing unified control of the government. The president-elect conveyed his expectation for unchallenged command by insisting the next Senate majority leader agree to fast-track his nominees through recess appointments, which would allow his picks to bypass the usual Senate hearings and vote – a path that might await Gaetz.

Trump finalized his decision to pick Gaetz as they traveled together Wednesday, according to people familiar with the process. Gaetz’s name had not appeared in early reports about contenders for the role, who included former acting U.S. attorney general Matt Whitaker, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

“I’m stunned,” one Trump adviser said of the attorney general nominee. “He can’t get confirmed, I don’t think, so it will have to be a recess appointment.”

But on Wednesday, the Senate GOP elected John Thune of South Dakota over Florida’s Rick Scott, whom Trump privately said he preferred but did not intervene for. Multiple senators reacted skeptically to Gaetz’s selection Wednesday.

“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said. “This one was not on my bingo card.”

“I think he’s got a lot of work to get 50,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina) said.

Gaetz provoked many of his House Republican colleagues, especially during showdowns over electing Kevin McCarthy as speaker in 2023, toppling McCarthy later that year and funding the government. He has a good relationship with Wiles, who brought him in to help prepare Trump for presidential debates this year.

Many of the right edge of Trump’s coalition cheered Gaetz’s rise.

“Suck on that,” former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon said in a text message.

Rep. Max L. Miller (R-Ohio) offered reporters a dim view of Gaetz’s chances and speculated that Trump could be softening up the Senate for a second choice.

“I think it was rewarding loyalty,” Miller said. “I don’t think Matt cares if he gets confirmed or not. Everyone’s talking about him. This is what he likes the most.”

As director of national intelligence, Gabbard, who shares Trump’s skepticism of foreign interventions, would lead 18 spy agencies and oversee a budget of $76 billion. But she would face misgivings from the officials and agencies she would lead, mainly because of her perceived sympathy for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“It is a danger to the American people to place a person who has coddled conspiracy theorists, defended Vladimir Putin, promoted Russian-backed disinformation campaigns, and cozied up to fringe hate groups in our nation’s top intelligence post,” Democratic National Committee spokesman Alex Floyd said. “Once again, Trump’s Cabinet picks are showing that when it comes to our national security and our leadership on the world stage, loyalty to him comes first – and America comes last.”

Gabbard, who represented Hawaii in the House as a Democrat from 2013 and 2021, isolated herself by meeting with and defending Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a Putin ally, in 2017. She ran in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, receiving positive coverage from Russian state-owned media and automated social media accounts. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) joined Democrats in criticizing her sympathetic statements toward Russia’s position on invading Ukraine.

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022 and endorsed Trump in August. He named her co-chair of his transition team.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) praised her as an “independent voice.”

In contrast to Gabbard and Gaetz, Rubio received early signs of bipartisan support. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark R. Warner (D-Virginia) said, “While we don’t always agree, he is smart, talented, and will be a strong voice for American interests around the globe.”