Well, THAT was a week

Please add "Matt Gaetz nominated for Attorney General" to the sentences I never imagined I would write

President-elect Trump wasted no time shocking the nation, as each day last week brought news of a more outrageous, less qualified Cabinet pick than he had offered up the day prior. He also proved that—though he can bankrupt a casino, he’s still a betting man. This was placed on starkest display with the extreme gamble of tapping Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general. 

Yeah. That guy.

Until last year, Gaetz was under investigation BY the Department of Justice, so it makes sense to, let’s see…NOBODY that he should be put forward to now lead it. It would be like dealing with a problematic, perma-screeching hyena by elevating him to zookeeper.

This stunner of an announcement came amid a tsunami of wildly unqualified nominees: anti-environment Lee Zeldin at EPA; anti-science RFK Jr. at Health and Human Services; Fox apprentice-anchor Pete Hegseth for Defense; and potential propaganda parrot Tulsi Gabbard to oversee DNI and oversee our nation’s intelligence agencies (among other disasters). Let’s not forget Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who received Most Spirited Boys participation trophies via positions at a made-up agency they dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency (or DOGE) so that Elon could make cringeworthy puns while juicing his favored cryptocurrency.

But Matt Gaetz brings this charade to a new level, as he’s not just uniquely unqualified, he’s also dangerous—if his nomination goes through. Grasp hold of that “if.” 

Why would Trump have put this volatile, high-risk foot-soldier up for the job? 

The first answer, as always, is that Trump is doing this for Trump. Gaetz at the helm would assure safe passage for our twice-impeached, disgraced felon of a president-elect, and would swiftly shoo away the shackles of accountability. Trump would plow ahead with his agenda without worrying about pesky constraints like the rule of law or moderating forces. Who better to insure as much than a groveling sycophant Joker like Gaetz to turn our Department of Justice into MAGA’s retribution force?

Secondly, Gaetz’s confirmation would send a definitive message that he owns the GOP; Thune be damned. If Trump can push Matt Gaetz through confirmation, he’s got sufficient evidence that the GOP is squarely under his thumb. The guy was just under scrutiny for the alleged sex trafficking of a minor, among other crimes. And now he’s been nominated to lead the agency that investigated him? By the way, did anybody even know that Gaetz practiced law?

Stepping back to survey this forest of hypocrisy, Republicans have predicated their party’s identity on fighting the behavior Gaetz has been accused of committing. For at least a decade, the GOP has been losing its mind over scenarios like Democrats trafficking kids in DC pizza-place basements. You’d be hard-pressed to log on to Twitter without seeing some right-wing keyboard warrior making claims that Democrats are pedophiles. Are they prepared to forgo their supposed values to anoint this contrarian weasel—who, again, allegedly committed sexual misconduct with a minor—to be our nation’s top law enforcement official? 

It’s not just Gaetz swimming in those putrid waters. Potential Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. He denies wrongdoing, yet still paid the accuser. At the time, Hegseth was going through a divorce with his second wife, with whom he has three kids. She filed for divorce after he had a child with a Fox News producer, now his third wife. His first marriage also ended due to Hegseth’s infidelity. No wonder Trump likes him. They get each other. 

Then there’s RFK Jr., who apologized in July via text to his children’s former babysitter, whom he sexually assaulted in the late-’90s. When asked by The Boston Globe if there would be further stories of harassment or sexual assault to emerge, Kennedy replied: “We’ll see what happens.” 

Of course, these three men were put forth by an adjudicated rapist who has been in the tabloids for infidelity for decades. All of this is being brought to us *live* by the purported Party of Family Values.

So, if you’re wondering why I titled my book Shameless—this is why.

 

But Gaetz is a legitimate risk. With him, Trump may have jumped the shark (with the potential to be politically-electrocuted?) In putting forward such a vile character, Trump is doing his damndest to box in the Republicans. Will they go so far as to support the least qualified nominee to any cabinet-level position in history? By testing them so recklessly, Trump has placed himself at the mercy of his party, who now have the power to prove that a semblance of guardrails might remain in Washington. 

If the GOP does not overwhelmingly confirm Gaetz—which is a real possibility, based on the reporting we’re seeing, then Trump’s bubble of invincibility and unchecked authority will be pierced in the first week of his presidency. Which would effectively neuter him right at the moment when he’s trying to show the world what a strongman demagogue he truly is. 

To be clear, refusing to vote for Gaetz for this position would not signal a tilt toward justice or restored sanity. Republicans will go along with Trump 99% of the time. But he’s an absolute kinda guy, one who derives his strength from (at least the optics of) TOTAL fealty from his underlings. Zero dissent. If Gaetz is not confirmed, that illusion is broken. Which wouldn’t humble the man, but it would throw him off his game. All for the sake of testing Senate Republicans by suggesting that an overtly corrupt congressman would be an ideal steward to lead the entire country’s legal apparatus.

As someone who values democracy and believes that our Republic can withstand the forthcoming shitstorm, seeing Gaetz denied the position would offer some relief. We’re entering an invariably tumultuous period with no guarantees of accountability, so grab hold of hope wherever you can. And yes, if you had told me two weeks ago that I’d be hanging onto the glimmer of MATT GAETZ potentially not being appointed AG, I…well, scratch that. The time for what if’s is over. This is where we are.

So I can only hope these Republicans don’t contract their power to Trump. I can only hope they don’t give him recess appointments. I can only hope that their response is not limited to a Susan Collins-level facade of furrowed-brow concern. I can only hope that a handful of Republicans will assert the power they were elected to wield. And, against my better judgment, I believe there’s a possibility of rejecting Trump’s wishes in the case of Gaetz—if for no other reason than the fact that his sensationalist shenanigans over the speakership left him unpopular with a sliver of the GOP. No matter the motivation; if he’s denied the position, I will welcome it as unequivocally good news.

A closing thought on moving forward without losing our minds. There are going to be a lot of fires to put out over the next four years, as evidenced by what we saw last week. The onus is on us to determine where to put our energy, lest we burn out too quickly or—worse—gradually accept shifting goalposts of acceptability. If we treat everything like a 5-alarm fire, eventually, nothing will feel like a 5-alarm fire anymore. 

So, let’s pick our battles wisely. Trump thrives when Democrats are in such a state of chaos that we don’t notice the worst of his behavior. If we can be disciplined enough to hone in on his greatest offenses (I’d offer Gaetz as Attorney General and Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence as deserving the most scrutiny and resistance at this moment), we’ll be more effective…and will save ourselves from feeling like the sky is falling in every direction and that we can’t do anything. There’s much to learn from the trajectory of the 2024 election. Being deliberate and organized are chief among those lessons.

As always, thank you for staying in the fight. Tune in or tune out as you must. I’m not going anywhere.