Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy does not believe outgoing Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) will be confirmed as attorney general by the Senate after President-elect Donald Trump selected him as his nominee on Wednesday.
Some of Trump’s picks for his Cabinet, including Gaetz for attorney general and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, have garnered strong reactions on Capitol Hill and in the wider political world. McCarthy, whose speakership was ended by a successful motion to vacate filed by Gaetz in October 2023, told Bloomberg he believes Trump’s nominees are good, except for Gaetz.
“I think the choices are very good, except one. Gaetz won’t get confirmed, everybody knows that,” McCarthy said.
When pressed on why he thinks Trump picked Gaetz for his attorney general nominee, McCarthy said it was a “good deflection” but did not elaborate further.
McCarthy and Gaetz have had a public feud over the past several years, coming to a head during the former’s bid for House speaker in 2023. The Florida Republican led efforts to block his bid for speaker in January 2023, leading to 15 rounds of voting, and had threatened to file a motion to vacate against McCarthy until he did on Oct. 3, 2023.
Since McCarthy’s removal, he has not minced words about Gaetz. In April, the former speaker claimed the Florida congressman ousted him because Gaetz wanted to stop an ethics complaint alleging he slept with a minor. Gaetz has flatly denied the allegations and called McCarthy a “liar.”
The former House speaker did praise Trump’s other Cabinet picks, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for secretary of state.
“When you look at a Rubio, just the knowledge that he has being on the Intel Committee — I was on the Gang of Eight — and his understanding, even when you listen to the other side of the aisle, they say, ‘He’ll make a great secretary of state.’ So, that’s strong for me. Waltz, just as background from a Green Beret, and others being them, but John Ratcliffe at CIA, former DNI, that’s very strong,” McCarthy said.
“And the difference is to what was eight years ago today, President Trump understands the job. He knows the people that he needs around him to get there, and I think he’s gonna be much better prepared because he only has one term, but he’ll hit the ground running this time,” he added.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) announced Wednesday that Gaetz would be resigning his seat effective immediately. The resignation comes days before the House Ethics Committee was reportedly set to vote on whether to release a damaging report on the outgoing congressman.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) said Thursday that he has asked the state secretary of state to “formulate and announce a schedule for the upcoming special elections immediately” to replace Florida congressmen selected to be in Trump’s Cabinet.