Matt Gaetz withdraws his name to be Donald Trump's attorney general
WASHINGTON -- Former Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general.
"I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday," Gaetz wrote in a post on X. "I appreciate their thoughtful feedback - and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."
"I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history," Gaetz added. "I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."
Gaetz informed Trump late Thursday morning that he'd be withdrawing, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Trump, who had been personally calling lawmakers to shore up support for Gaetz, issued a statement saying he appreciated Gaetz's "recent efforts" to seek Senate approval and claiming that withdrawing was Gaetz's choice.
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"He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect," Trump wrote. "Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!"
Vice President-elect JD Vance, who escorted Gaetz to meet Vance's fellow GOP senators on Wednesday, posted on X, "I'm extremely grateful for the work Matt put into the nomination process. He made his decision to withdraw entirely out of respect for President Trump's administration. Matt is a patriot and I look forward to seeing what he does next."
Trump announced last Wednesday he was tapping Gaetz to serve as the nation's top law enforcement officer. Gaetz, a conservative firebrand in Congress, resigned his seat shortly after.
The choice shocked many Republicans on Capitol Hill and raised eyebrows within the Justice Department.
Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., expressed "relief" after Gaetz's announcement.
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"I know enough people that were a "hell no" in the conference to know that the path would have been very, very difficult, if possible, and I doubt it was," Cramer said.
GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said he thinks it was the "right decision" even though Gaetz sounded so "optimistic" during their meeting on Capitol Hill.
Republican senators thought to be opposed to Gaetz because of obstacles to confirmation openly praised the decision he step aside.
"I think that was an excellent move on behalf of the incoming president," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said.
"I think it was a sound decision. I think it was important," said Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who had been among those publicly voicing serious concerns.
Asked if she was relieved, Murkowski said, "I am. I think it was the right decision."
Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, who also had expressed concerns, said withdrawing was the "right decision to make."
"There was perhaps some information out there that the president was not aware of when he made the original recommendation. Part of this process is, the information comes out, and then at that point, as people re-evaluate or evaluate, you know, the president or the individual candidate may decide it's not the right time to pursue the nomination," Rounds said. "It may very well have been because of advice from the Senate rather than consent from the Senate."
Not all senators were as open on their views.
"That's obviously a decision he came to, and I think everybody had to make a decision that's good for them and their family. And for whatever reason he decided not to pursue it," Sen. John Thune, the incoming Republican leader, said.
When pressed on whether he felt it was the right choice: "We respect his decision," Thune said.
Gaetz has been under scrutiny amid sexual misconduct allegations, including accusations he had sex with a minor, which he's long denied.
The House Ethics Committee was in the final stages of its probe into Gaetz when he was tapped to be attorney general, ABC News reported. Fiery debate has transpired on Capitol Hill since then on whether the panel should release its report.
Many senators said they believed the information that would be in the report would become public during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Sen. John Cornyn, who met with Gaetz on Wednesday, said his hearing had the potential to be "Kavanaugh on steroids."
Sources told ABC News in the last few days it became clear to the Trump team that Gaetz was not going to have enough votes for a Senate confirmation with sources close to the president-elect telling ABC News "no path to 50" senators.
Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, said on Thursday Trump "remains committed to choosing a leader for the Department of Justice who will strongly defend the Constitution and end the weaponization of our justice system."
"President Trump will announce his new decision when it is made," Leavitt said.
Trump has announced who he intends to install his top defense attorneys to the high-level roles at the Justice Department. Todd Blanche has been picked to be the deputy attorney general and Emil Bove as principal associate deputy attorney general.
ABC News' Kelsey Walsh, Lalee Ibssa and Mariam Khan contributed to this report.
