5 things Washingtonians should know about Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz
Nov. 15—President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Wednesday, Nov. 13 that he has nominated Republican representative Matt Gaetz to be attorney general via a post on his social media platform.
“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. “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.”
If Gaetz is confirmed by the Senate, he will replace Merrick B. Garland, the current attorney general who was appointed in March 2021, and will become the head of the Department of Justice and chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.
Gaetz, who was nearing the end of his fourth term representing Florida’s first congressional district when he resigned to accept the nomination, is a staunch Trump loyalist with a controversial history. In 2020,the DOJ opened an investigation against Gaetz after it was alleged that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old and paid for her to travel across state lines with him. The DOJ ended the investigation in 2023.
Washington largely voted blue in the election, so here’s what you need to know about Gaetz and how he could affect the Evergreen State if he’s confirmed.
Who is Matt Gaetz?
Gaetz, whose father is a Florida state legislator, has deep ties to his home state. He was born in Hollywood, Florida went to high school in Niceville in the northwest part of the state, and attended college at Florida State University. While Gaetz left the state to get his law degree, he returned there to practice law.
Gaetz served as a representative in the state legislature from 2010 until 2016, before running for Congress that year and winning the seat. Gaetz became the representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district in January of 2017, a role that he held until resigning earlier this week to focus on his attorney general nomination.
What Gaetz has said about Trump, Jan. 6
Gaetz has gained a reputation as a Trump loyalist. However, that isn’t always reflected in his voting record. According to political data tracking and analysis site FiveThirtyEight, Gaetz voted in line with the then-president’s position 85% of the time during Trump’s time in office. Between 2017 and 2018, Gaetz voted in line with Trump’s position 81.1% of the time, one of the lowest rates of any Republican in Congress, although that rose to 89% over the following two years.
But even if his voting record isn’t the most pro-Trump, Gaetz’s public persona is. The congressman has made repeated media appearances in favor of the president-elect. In 2019, he posted what some thought was a threatening message on Twitter about former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen ahead of Cohen’s testimony regarding the then-president.
After the 2020 election, Gaetz pushed unfounded claims that the vote had been stolen from Trump, continuing to do so after the events of Jan. 6, 2021 and well into President Biden’s term. He also blamed the Jan. 6 attacks on left-wing activists.
Gaetz has been under DOJ investigation
Gaetz is a controversial figure, even among Republicans — late last year, he filed a motion that led to then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy’s removal.
The now-closed DOJ investigation into Gaetz stemmed from a separate probe about his friend Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking charges. The probe is believed to have started in late 2020 and ramped up the following year. After looking into whether or not Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a minor and paid for her travel, in early 2023, the DOJ decided it didn’t have enough evidence to move forward with the case.
A former White House aide testified that Gaetz asked the Trump administration for a preemptive pardon on any charges related to the investigation. While the DOJ investigation didn’t result in any charges, he was still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, until he resigned to take over the DOJ.
Gaetz has repeatedly denied the allegations, claiming that they’re the result of an attempt to extort him.
Gaetz’s political positions
Despite not always aligning with Trump, Gaetz’s voting record is one of the more conservative ones in Congress. Conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, a key organization behind Project 2025, says that Gaetz has voted in line with its issue positions 88% of the time during his four terms. Even with that number falling to 81% during the current term, it’s still well above the Republican average of 73%.
Gaetz is staunchly anti-immigration, going as far as to endorse the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. Notably for Washington state, Gaetz tends to vote against climate protections. The League of Conservation Voters gives his voting record on climate issues a score of 10%.
Still, there are a handful of issues that he aligns with the left on. In 2019, Gaetz introduced a bill to expand research into medical uses of marijuana. During his time as a state legislator, Gaetz introduced a measure to repeal a Florida ban that prohibited same-sex couples from adopting.
How Gaetz as AG could impact WA
So how could Gaetz affect Washington state if he is confirmed as attorney general? It’s tough to know for certain, but there are some clues.
Much of the DOJ’s job is to prosecute people who violate federal law. This doesn’t necessarily deal with issues typically thought to be partisan, although a recent DOJ case in Washington did result in charges against a business owner for violating the federal Clean Air Act.
A bigger impact could be the DOJ’s ability to challenge state laws. A Gaetz-led DOJ could challenge Washington state policies it believes to violate federal law. However, Gaetz’s early remarks suggest he might want the department to have a relatively small footprint. In a widely-reported social media post just before his nomination was announced that appears to have been deleted, Gaetz spoke of abolishing “every one of the three letter agencies,” such as the FBI and the CDC.
This echoes his comments from the Conservative Political Action Committee’s 2023 conference. In his speech, Gaetz said that “we either get this government back on our side, or we defund, and get rid of, abolish the [Federal Bureau of Investigation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives], DOJ — every last one of them if they do not come to heel.”
Washington state’s government will likely take steps to minimize the impact of the Trump administration on Washington.
“Washington has strong statutes that protect our values, and when Trump messed with our state we sued him 97 times — only losing two cases on the merits while he was in office,” current Governor Jay Inslee stated in a press release the day after the Nov. 5 election.
Governor-elect Bob Ferguson is widely expected to approach the second Trump presidency similarly. He served as the state’s attorney general during the first Trump term, overseeing several lawsuits against the Trump administration, including notable ones about climate policy and immigration. Ferguson has already hinted that he plans to combat any Trump administration decisions that he views as an infringement on the rights of Washingtonians.
One impact of a Gaetz tenure as attorney general could be on grant funding the state receives. The DOJ gives local governments and nonprofits billions of dollars worth of grants each year for public safety programs. In recent months, Washington state organizations have received $10 million for domestic violence prevention. If he’s confirmed, Gaetz could reshuffle the department’s priorities and spending.
All of this is contingent on Gaetz being confirmed by the Senate. After November’s election, Republicans are slated to control at least 52 and likely 53 seats in the Senate, giving Gaetz some cushion, but not a lot, if members of his party vote against his confirmation. You can read more about the confirmation process here.