Published: 9:48am, 14 Nov 2024Updated: 9:49am, 14 Nov 2024
US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named incendiary Republican US congressman Matt Gaetz to be his nominee for attorney general, selecting an ally who has faced Justice Department scrutiny to run the agency.
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“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement announcing the selection, which would be subject to confirmation by the Republican-majority Senate.
The choice of a 42-year-old congressman who has never worked in the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government was the latest in a wave of Trump nominations of candidates with scant experience.
Gaetz resigned from the House of Representatives on Wednesday “effective immediately,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters.
“It caught us by surprise a little bit,” Johnson said of the resignation, adding Gaetz stepped down to quickly start the process of naming a replacement in what is expected to be a closely divided House of Representatives.
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