Matt Gaetz Withdraws From AG Consideration

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) announced in a Thursday X post that he is pulling himself out of consideration to be attorney general in the incoming Trump administration after spending Wednesday in meetings with Senate Republicans.

Trump announced last week that he would nominate Gaetz; the Florida congressman then immediately resigned from Congress, just days before the House Ethics Committee was set to vote on releasing a report on its inquiry into the congressman.

The ensuing week has been dominated by coverage of Gaetz’s own alleged sexual misconduct, including a DOJ investigation into sex trafficking allegations that stemmed from a purported incident in which he had sex with a 17-year old. The DOJ informed Gaetz in 2023 that it would not pursue charges in the matter.

Gaetz’s resignation briefly halted work on the House Ethics panel’s report into the underage sex allegations and a slew of other accusations of misconduct. But on Thursday, the committee voted to continue work on the report, though Republican members voted as a block to stonewall its release.

In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump thanked Gaetz for his “recent efforts” to garner support for his nomination.

“I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect,” Trump wrote. “Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!”

Gaetz’s decision to withdraw from consideration for attorney general comes just after his day of meetings on Capitol Hill with Senate Republicans, accompanied by Vice President-elect JD Vance.

It’s unclear how most of those meetings went, but at least one Trump ally, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), emerged from his meeting with the pair urging his colleagues to take the allegations against Gaetz with a grain of salt. “I fear the process surrounding the Gaetz nomination is turning into an angry mob, and unverified allegations are being treated as if they are true. I have seen this movie before,” he said in a statement after the meeting.

Senate Republicans have spent the last week since Trump announced Gaetz’s nomination avoiding engaging seriously in public on the question of whether Gaetz was confirmable as attorney general, given the litany of allegations against the congressman, many of which are and have been public for years. Some Senate Republicans argued they’d like to see the House Ethics Committee’s report as part of the vetting process, making Gaetz’s confirmation — typically a Senate problem — a House problem as well. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) came out against the release of the report not long before House Republicans on the Ethics panel voted on Wednesday to bury it.

Just as Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday, CNN dropped a new report detailing an additional allegation of Gaetz having a sexual encounter with the then-17-year-old girl. An attorney for the alleged victim, who testified before the House Ethics Committee, has been making the rounds on cable news this week, sharing details of his client’s allegations.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.