The GOP representative from Florida quickly resigned his position after nominated by Trump to become attorney general. Many speculate it was a move intended to quell a House ethics investigation with Gaetz as the target.
“What I'm hearing is that this report is a grenade, and it is only a matter of time before it leaks and it explodes,” Philip Wegmann, the White House reporter for Real Clear Politics said on This Week on the Hill (Salem News Channel) over the weekend.
In most cases, a House-led investigation ends if it’s incomplete when the subject leaves the House or Senate.
“There are some examples where information did follow the exit of a member of Congress, but those are exceedingly rare and we'd have to go back to, I think, 1990 for the last example,” Wegmann told Tony Perkins, who re-aired the Salem interview on Washington Watch Monday.
Gaetz, it appears, could be a special case. He was once the subject of a sex trafficking investigation by the Department of Justice, and that was the core of the investigation by the House Ethics Committee, The Associated Press reported.
“Democrats have an incentive for this information to get out of there, but they don't want it to go off right now. They want to wait until they are able to inflict maximum damage. Then there are some Republicans who would rather this information get out earlier. So, the president-elect can either reexamine his choice or perhaps Gaetz can bow out,” Wegmann suggested.
Support for Matt Gaetz
Gaetz, a hard-core fiscal conservative perhaps best known for his motion to vacate that led to the ouster of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, is exactly what Washington, DC, needs, Rep. Bob Good (R-Virginia) said on American Family Radio Tuesday.
Good is hopeful for a clean sweep of Trump nominees in the Senate.
“He tried the conventional picks eight years ago, and it served him poorly in many cases. Washington needs to be disrupted. It needs to be reconfigured in many ways. We need to bring high-velocity culture change to Washington,” Good told show host Jenna Ellis.
Gaetz, he said, would do just that.
“What better way to do that than with some of these nominees President Trump has put forth, including my friend Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Matt and I are close colleagues and have served together and fought the same fights over the past four years that I’ve been in Washington,” Good shared.
Trump last week said he would utilize recess appointments to get his picks quickly in place, a move that would bypass Senate confirmation hearings. The Constitution allows such picks to go through in this manner, but their term would automatically expire at the conclusion of the next Senate session, which would be the end of 2026.
Recess appointments would have to be allowed by Senate leadership. New Majority Leader John Thune has suggested he’s open to the idea.
“The American people voted overwhelmingly” for change, Good argued, and “Republicans should use every tool at their disposal, every tool within their legitimate means to advance the agenda. The Republicans need to fight fire with fire and realize we are at war to save our country. The Democrats will do everything they can do destroy President Trump, to destroy his nominees, to destroy his agenda. We need to fight accordingly.”
Wegmann predicts successful confirmations for many of Trump’s other selections, most notably Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, Lee Zeldin for the Environmental Protection Agency, and Kristi Noem for Homeland Security.
He’s less certain about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., (left) for Health and Human Services and Pete Hegseth for Defense. Kennedy intersects with many of Trump’s interests, but there are some obvious contradictions, Wegmann noted.
“He’s a Catholic individual, but he also supports abortion rights. He’s very skeptical of pharmaceutical companies, but he’s also anti-big bank and anti-big business. He’s an environmentalist. He’s one of those guys who sort of breaks the mold.”
Wegmann doesn’t see support for Kennedy from Democrats. The question will be how many Republicans will balk, he said.
Hegseth’s anti-woke passion
Hegseth, with his disdain for the military’s current woke practices under the Biden DOD, absolutely aligns with Trump, and Hegseth’s military experience makes him well-qualified for the position, Wegmann said.
“He makes the Left go crazy, but this is someone who was in the armed services for 20 years and won medals. The nomination makes sense. He’s on fire for reforming the Pentagon and going after the woke excesses there,” Wegmann said.
And Hegseth’s television background with Fox News will make him a tough nut for Democrats to crack in confirmation hearings. “He will be prepared. You don’t get to be on TV every weekend if you’re not quick on your feet. I think he’s got a good shot,” Wegmann said.
Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) told Perkins that Hegseth is the outsider that the military needs.
“Donald Trump tried the insiders. He tried Gen. [James] 'Mad Dog' Mattis, and supposedly he was going to lead transformative change. He didn’t lead anything. He was a disaster. Then he brought in a lobbyist insider, Mark Esper. It was the same status quo, no reform.”
Davidson highlighted Hegseth’s education, pointing out the books he’s written, as well as his combat experience.
“Now Donald Trump is saying, ‘I’m going to pick someone who actually means what I’m talking about. We’re going to get a strong and focused military,’” Davidson said.
With only a few exceptions, the individuals announced thus far by the president-elect must receive Senate approval before assuming their duties.
