Donald Trump’s prospective nomination of former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general has seemingly already run up against two obstacles: Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski.
The moderate duo, who have also resisted Trump’s demand for Republican senators to stop considering judicial nominees until Trump takes office, both said they were surprised by the incoming president’s announcement and signaled that they may vote against Gaetz when the time comes.
“I don’t think it is a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Murkowski told reporters Wednesday. “We need to have a serious attorney general, and I’m looking forward to the opportunity to consider somebody that is serious. This one was not on my bingo card.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The reaction from Collins, who also did not vote for Trump in the last election, was similar.
“I was shocked that he has been nominated,” she said. “If the nomination proceeds, I’m sure there will be an extensive background check by the FBI, and public hearings, and a lot of questions asked.”
Neither senator has definitively said that they would not vote to confirm Gaetz, whose nomination also drew criticism from other Republicans on Capitol Hill.
“No good comment,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) told reporters, while Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) said Gaetz would be a “compromised AG.”
Even supporters of Gaetz’s nomination seem to acknowledge that his confirmation hearing won’t go smoothly.
“I completely trust President Trump’s decision-making on this one, but at the same time, he’s got to come to Congress and sell himself,” Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin told CNN. “There’s a lot of questions that are going to be out there, he’s got to answer those questions, and hopefully he’s able to answer the questions right.”
