WASHINGTON--Hardline Republican Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general after the former lawmaker faced opposition from Senate Republicans over his past conduct.
Gaetz, who resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives last week, was the subject of an Ethics Committee probe into allegations of having sex with an underage 17-year-old girl. He has denied wrongdoing.
The nomination was an early test of Trump's power over Congress, where his Republican Party will hold majorities in both chambers next year. Gaetz was disliked by many fellow Republicans for having orchestrated the ouster last year of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, throwing the House into chaos for weeks.
Republicans in the Senate had bristled at the idea of being asked to vote on Gaetz without seeing the findings of the House Ethics Committee's investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct.
Gaetz, in a post on X, said he wanted to avoid becoming a distraction to the incoming Trump administration. "There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General," Gaetz wrote. "Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."
Gaetz, who was nominated last week, never worked at the Justice Department nor served as a prosecutor at any level of government. He was investigated by the FBI for nearly three years over potential sex trafficking violations, a probe that ended last year without charges being brought.
Trump was also the subject of multiple Justice Department investigations, and faced two federal indictments related to his conduct during and after his 2017-2021 term in office. He has denied all wrongdoing, described the prosecutions as politically motivated and vowed to use the department to go after political enemies when he returns to power on Jan. 20.
Gaetz earned a reputation as a firebrand and loyal Trump ally during his time in the House and his nomination was viewed as an indication Trump would follow through on his vows to use the Justice Department to exact retribution against his foes.
"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 on Truth Social.
Since Trump's pick, a handful of Republican senators had either directly questioned the pick or said they would want to see the findings of the ethics report on Gaetz, raising questions of whether he could win sufficient votes for confirmation in the chamber. Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate next year after Democratic Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania on Thursday conceded the final outstanding Senate race of the 2024 U.S. election.
"There was perhaps some information out there that the president was not aware of when he made the original recommendation," said Republican Senator Mike Rounds. He described Gaetz's withdrawal as the Senate fulfilling its duty to advise presidents on nominations.
Trump's choice of Gaetz stunned even his own supporters, and on Thursday evening he announced his new pick was former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi. Trump has already tapped Todd Blanche, one of his criminal defense lawyers and a former federal prosecutor, to serve as the No. 2 Justice Department official, and former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Jay Clayton to lead the high-profile U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan.
Gaetz is the first Cabinet-level nominee tapped to serve in Trump's upcoming administration to withdraw, though several have faced scrutiny over past behaviour.
