Matt Gaetz Faces ‘Monumental Challenge’ to Win Confirmation—Legal Analyst

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, will face a “monumental challenge” to secure Senate confirmation, according to legal analyst and attorney Jonathan Turley.
Trump announced he had selected the Florida Republican Representative to serve as his attorney general, tasking a fierce loyalist with the dramatic overhaul of the Department of Justice over more experienced candidates. Gaetz will “root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Gaetz is a firebrand who has been divisive even in his own party and was previously investigated by the DOJ for sex trafficking, though that probe ended in 2023 without charges being brought against him.
In choosing Gaetz, Trump “clearly wants an outsider without cultural or professional ties” to the DOJ, Turley, a professor at the Georgia Washington University Law School who has been supportive of Trump amid his legal challenges, wrote on X.
“If Trump wanted to defibrillate the Justice Department, the Matt Gaetz nomination is the 100,000-volt option,” he wrote. “However, securing confirmation will be a monumental challenge.”
Gaetz wrote on X it would be “an honor” to serve as Trump’s attorney general and resigned from his House seat on Wednesday.
His resignation ends the House Ethics Committee’s probe into sex trafficking, sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and other allegations against Gaetz. Gaetz has denied all of the allegations.
Gaetz’s office and a spokesperson for Trump have been contacted for comment via email.
Republicans will have a 53-47 majority in the new Senate (including those who caucus with democrats) and Vice President-elect JD Vance would be able to break a 50-50 in case of a few defections.
But Gaetz’s nomination “leaves little room for defections,” Turley told Newsweek. “With an expected unified Democratic minority, there will be little room for attrition on the Republican side.
“If the new majority leader hoped to put his toe in the water to test the temperature of the new Republican majority, the nomination will throw the entire conference into the deep end of the pool.”
On X, Turley said that Gaetz’s nomination will “likely draw fire and resources from other nominees” who may “appear less controversial by comparison.”
He added that “just a day after the announcement, this is shaping up as one of the most intense confirmation fights in congressional history.”
Gaetz’s selection has reportedly shocked Republicans—and legal experts—and he may face an uphill battle to win confirmation.
The Associated Press reported that most Republicans avoided directly answering whether they supported Trump’s pick.
North Carolina Senator Thom Tills told the AP that Gaetz will have “his work cut out for him” to win enough votes for confirmation.
Richard Painter, a White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration and professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, told Newsweek that he agrees that Gaetz could face difficulty winning Senate confirmation.
He said the Senate Judiciary Committee could refuse to hold a hearing or delay a vote on the nomination if “all the relevant information” about the nominee is not handed over, including the House Ethics Committee’s report.
“Republicans in the Senate are not going to want to be associated with approving an attorney general without a thorough background check. I just don’t think they’re going to want to do that,” he said.
“There are plenty of very, very conservative Republicans who could become Attorney General. Mr. Gaetz is the President-elect’s choice, but all the information needs to be provided the Senate, and I just don’t think Republican senators are going to vote yes blindly without all that information.”