Former House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) predicted that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL.) will not get confirmed by the Senate to serve as Attorney General in Donald Trump’s administration.
On Wednesday, President-elect Trump sent shockwaves through Capitol Hill when he announced Gaetz as his choice to lead the Justice Department.
Asked about Trump’s cabinet picks so far, McCarthy told Bloomberg Television in an interview, “I think the choices are very good, except one.”
“Look, Gaetz won’t get confirmed,” he continued. “Everybody knows that.”
Gaetz and McCarthy have a long running feud that culminated last year when the Florida lawmaker led the effort to successfully oust McCarthy as speaker.
McCarthy said at the time that Gaetz wanted him gone because he failed to stop a House Ethics probe into allegations of sex trafficking, sexual misconduct and drug use.
Gaetz denied the claim, saying the motion to vacate was because McCarthy had broken some promises he made to far-right lawmakers to secure the speakership in January.
Gaetz later reportedly told colleagues that he led the effort to remove McCarthy as speaker as payback for the Ethics probe.
Hours after Trump nominated him for the role of attorney general, Gaetz resigned from Congress “effective immediately” thus ending the Ethics Committee probe since the House no longer has investigatory jurisdiction over him.
Punchbowl News later reported that Gaetz’s resignation came just two days before the committee was set to vote on whether to release a “damaging” report with the findings from their years long investigation of the congressman.
Republicans will have a 53-47 seat majority in the Senate starting in January. This means it would take only four Republican “no” votes, to reject Gaetz.
Politico reported that at least four Republicans have already expressed doubts about Gaetz: Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.
