Matt Gaetz was President-Elect Donald Trump’s first pick to lead the Justice Department. After Gaetz withdrew from consideration, Trump picked Pam Bondi to be Attorney General in his second administration.
AG Pick Number 1: Representative Matt Gaetz
Blowback from Democrats and Republicans alike over Trump’s first pick resulted in news cycle after news cycle talking about the ethics report that was set to be released. The Ethics Committee was investigating Gaetz for alleged sex-trafficking of a minor after the DOJ had declined to prosecute the Representative following their investigation.
After he was named as the pick for AG in the second Trump administration, Gaetz stepped down from his role in the House of Representatives. The timing was suspect to a lot of political analysts because he stepped down the day before a scheduled meeting to decide whether the ethics report would be released to the public. This led many people to speculate that the nomination for AG and his departure from the House was planned.
Matt Gaetz released a statement withdrawing his name from being considered to lead the DOJ because, according to him, he felt bad for embarrassing the administration after attacks were levied against the Trump team for nominating him in the first place. It’s more likely a result of several Republican Senators claiming they would vote “No” in a confirmation hearing for Gaetz.
AG pick Number 2: Pam Bondi
After Matt Gaetz decided to withdraw his name as potential AG, Donald Trump announced his next pick.
According to CNN, her …rise through the Florida state legal system and her fealty to Trumpmake her a key enforcer on his proposed policies around immigration, reproductive health and political retribution.
But Justice employees are still steeling for heavy disruption, given that Trump’s stated plans are to bring the department to heel after being the subject of years of investigations he claims were unfair and politicized.
