President-Elect Donald Trump will nominate GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida to serve as his attorney general, according to a social media post on his Truth Social account.
“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday.
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Gaetz currently represents Florida’s 1st District in the House of Representatives, an office he’s held since 2017.
“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Mr. Trump said.
Responding to Trump’s announcement, Gaetz said, “It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!”
If confirmed, Gaetz would lead the Justice Department — a federal agency of more than 100,000 employees — and oversee its numerous investigative components, including the FBI. Gaetz’s ascent to the Justice Department’s top job will come at a unique time, after Mr. Trump spent all of his 2024 presidential campaign under federal investigation or prosecution.
In a confirmation process, Gaetz would likely face questions about an ongoing review by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, which said in a statement earlier this year it was looking into allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct.”
Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing and maintained his innocence throughout a Justice Department probe — closed last year — into allegations that he violated sex trafficking laws and obstructed justice. Federal prosecutors in Florida did not file any charges in the case and informed the congressman that the case was closed.
Gaetz, who has served on the House Judiciary Committee and criticized current leadership, would take over the post as the first confirmed attorney general under a Trump presidency since then-Attorney General Bill Barr resigned in 2020 when Trump, who was then the president, sought to remain in power. Barr left office at the end of that year and was replaced by an acting attorney general, Jeff Rosen. Rosen and a number of his subordinates later testified against Trump during a hearing of the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. The former officials alleged that Trump had sought to pressure the Justice Department to investigate his claims of election fraud.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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