Matt Gaetz drops bid for Trump attorney general in face of Senate opposition

Hardline Republican Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration as president-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general, in the face of opposition from the Senate Republicans whose support he would have needed to win the job.

Trump said he will nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the top job after Gaetz’s withdrawal.

Gaetz, who resigned from the US House of Representatives last week, was the subject of an Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of having sex with a 17-year-old girl. He has denied wrongdoing.

The nomination was an early test of Trump’s power over Congress, where his Republican Party will hold majorities in both chambers next year. Gaetz was disliked by many fellow Republicans for having orchestrated the ousting last year of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, throwing the House into chaos for weeks.

Republicans in the Senate had bristled at the idea of being asked to vote on Gaetz without seeing the findings of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Gaetz, in a social media post, said he wanted to avoid becoming a distraction to the incoming Trump administration.

“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,” Gaetz wrote in a social media post.