Republicans Thought Trump’s Matt Gaetz Appointment Was a Joke

President-elect Donald Trump surprised Republican lawmakers on Wednesday when he chose Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to serve as his attorney general—including many of the senators needed to push through his confirmation.

The antagonistic, deeply partisan MAGA cheerleader must now earn votes from the same Republicans who reviled him for forcing out Speaker Kevin McCarthy just over a year ago. And it’s not looking like he has a lot of support.

Senator Jon Cornyn reportedly audibly snorted upon hearing news of Gaetz’s nomination. “I don’t know the man other than just his public persona,” he later told Washington Post correspondent Liz Goodwin.

Senator Susan Collins said she was “shocked” by the news of his pick, and Senator Lisa Murkowski said, “This one was not on my Bingo card.” But even Trump’s biggest supporters in the chamber were surprised. “Holy cow,” said Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, adding that he too did not see this one coming.

Senator Joe Manchin said that “no one could believe it” when the news broke on the Senate floor.

Politico reporter Meridith Lee Hill said she saw a House Republican laughing so hard at the pick that he began crying. When asked if he believed Gaetz has the character and experience needed to be attorney general, GOP Representative Mike Simpson replied, “Are you shittin me, that you just asked that question? No! But hell, you’ll print that and now I’m going to be investigated.”

Gaetz, one of the most outspoken MAGA representatives, has been described by his Republican colleagues in the past as a childish, “disgraceful,” and “vile” person. He is currently under a House ethics investigation for sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, after allegations that he had sex with a minor.

Whether Trump loyalists or Liz Cheney-ites, Republicans throughout Congress were shocked at Trump’s nomination of Gaetz. Perhaps Republican Senator Thom Tillis put it best: “I’m sure it’ll make for a popcorn-eating confirmation.”

This story has been updated.

Donald Trump plans to appoint Representative Matt Gaetz to the post of attorney general, the president-elect announced on Truth Social Wednesday, and the Florida congressman has already gleefully accepted the position.

The news is a surprise, considering that Gaetz was not among the names discussed for the position, which included right-wing activist Mike Davis and Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee who quickly dismissed Trump’s classified documents case.

Gaetz has been a staunch supporter of Trump, showing up to the president-elect’s New York hush-money trial in May and leaping to Trump’s defense in media appearances. But, he also has a questionable reputation, having escaped federal charges over allegations of sexual misconduct with an underage girl.

Gaetz is the target of a House Ethics Committee investigation over those allegations as well as reports of illicit drug use. The Florida representative led the effort to oust former Representative Kevin McCarthy from the House speakership in part because he wished to block the ethics probe. If he were to survive Senate confirmation and become attorney general, the ethics investigation would disappear.

While Gaetz has a law degree as well as an active law license, he does not appear to have any prosecutorial experience, which might be another obstacle in his confirmation process.

Trump will expect his attorney general to protect him from any legal cases or challenges, even though the position actually entails leading the Justice Department as the country’s top law enforcement official. A Republican attorney general will also be tasked with implementing conservative goals, such as implementing the right-wing Project 2025 manifesto.

Gaetz’s lack of prosecutorial experience may doom his chances, and Senate Republicans may not think he is up to the task. Several Republicans are already expressing shock and disapproval including Senators John Cornyn, Charles Grassley, and Susan Collins, among many others. It remains to be seen if Gaetz will win over enough Republican senators to be confirmed, or if the allegations against him will torpedo the nomination.

This story has been updated.

Trump Media insiders are dumping their stock in Truth Social’s parent company.

Trump Media & Technology Group director Eric Swider sold all the stock he owned directly in the company on Friday, offloading 136,183 shares at $28.23 per share, a total value of more than $3.8 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Swider still holds a little more than 18,000 shares in TMTG via an LLC, Zach Everson reported Wednesday in his 1100 Pennsylvania newsletter.

Swider had been the CEO of Digital World Acquisition Corporation, which merged with TMTG in March when the media company was on the verge of running out of cash. The deal was seen as a major win for Trump, infusing $300 million into the company and keeping Truth Social up and running. The merger also helped the media entity make a particularly strong debut on the stock market, with a valuation of nearly $8 billion, sending the worth of Trump’s personal stake in the company skyrocketing to upward of $3 billion.

But Swider wasn’t the only one to offload his Trumpian assets. Also on Friday, Chief Financial Officer Phillip Juhan dumped 320,000 shares at a price of $30.65 apiece, and on Monday he sold another 64,000 shares at a price of $32.97 each, leaving him with just over 265,000 shares in the social media endeavor. General counsel and Secretary Scott Glabe also dropped shares on Friday, though significantly fewer—15,917 shares, at $32.19 each.

Donald Trump nominated Republican-convert Tulsi Gabbard to be the next Director of National Intelligence on Wednesday.

“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties—She is now a proud Republican! I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace Through Strength,” Trump said in a statement.

After her failed presidential run in 2020, Gabbard left the Democratic Party (she seems to announce doing this at least once a week) and became something of a conservative celebrity, elevating transphobia, spreading Russian propaganda, and unsuccessfully endorsing Republicans.

She recently went full MAGA, endorsing Trump and coaching him for his disastrous debate against Kamala Harris.

Gabbard previously claimed she’d been placed on the TSA’s watchlist, and now she will oversee the U.S. intelligence community including the Central Intelligence Agency.

While Gabbard paints herself as an anti-interventionist, she has acted primarily as an advocate for a slate of authoritarians. In 2019, she defended Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and voiced support for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Egypt’s Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Gabbard argued that it wasn’t worth U.S. intervention because Ukraine “isn’t actually a democracy,” and claimed there were U.S.-backed biolabs in the country—a Russian conspiracy that got her publicly criticized for acting like a foreign asset. This only added to her status as an outsider, pushing her deep into the MAGA throng.

One member of Gabbard’s family has suggested that her troubling political journey could be related to her connection to the group Science of Identity Foundation, a cult that preaches homophobia, Islamophobia, and misogyny.

If Gabbard is confirmed, her appointment could cause tension with another Trump nominee: Senator Marco Rubio, whom Trump has tapped for secretary of state. In July, Gabbard criticized Rubio as representing “the neocon warmongering establishment of Washington, D.C.”

Gabbard explained that Rubio should not be in contention to be Trump’s running mate, and claimed Rubio was “diametrically opposed” to everything Trump stands for. It seems the president-elect disagreed.

This story has been updated.

The race is on for Senate Democrats to confirm President Joe Biden’s final nominees for federal judge positions, before the party loses the chamber majority.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that he would focus on confirming judges, according to HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery. “We will work to get as many confirmed as possible,” he said.

There are currently 47 judicial vacancies, including 45 in U.S. district courts and two in appeals courts. Biden has 31 nominees still in the pipeline to be confirmed, and only 22 days left in session before Republicans are set to take over on January 3.

The Senate voted 51–44 on Tuesday to confirm April M. Perry as a federal district judge for the Northern District of Illinois.

It’s essential that Senate Democrats approve as many Biden nominees as possible before Donald Trump enters office next year. The president-elect made a whopping 234 judicial appointments during his first term, some of whom proved to be fierce Trump loyalists willing to upend his legal battles—such as Judge Aileen Cannon, who used an insane technicality to toss out charges that Trump mishandled classified documents.

Other Trump appointees, such as Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, simply sow nationwide chaos by using the legal landscape to push conservative, sometimes Christian nationalist, agenda items like restricting abortion access.