GOP senator concerned Gaetz 'can't get across the finish line'

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) acknowledged to reporters Thursday that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), whom President-elect Trump nominated to serve as attorney general, might not get “across the finish line” in the Senate.

Cramer also wondered if confirming Gaetz to head the Justice Department would be worth all the “political capital” GOP leaders would have to spend to convince reluctant colleagues to vote for the lawmaker, who was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct and illicit drug use at the time of his resignation Wednesday.

“I have concerns that he can’t get across the finish line, and we’re going to spend a lot of political capital. … A lot of people will spend a lot of political capital on something that, even if they got done, you’d have to wonder if it was worth it,” Cramer told reporters, standing on the Capitol’s east front.

Cramer said he’s troubled by Gaetz’s role in leading the rebellion against former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) at the start of last year, requiring the Californian to battle through 15 rounds of votes before finally securing the gavel, as well as Gaetz’s successful effort to oust him from the Speakership last October.

“I have concerns about the way he disrupted and really destroyed the House of Representatives for several months — what he did to a really good Speaker in Kevin McCarthy, and accomplished nothing except getting rid of him and ruined the reputation of the House of Representatives to the point where they didn’t catch the wave in this most recent election,” he said.

Cramer separately told The Hill that he agreed with McCarthy’s recent prediction that Gaetz won’t win Senate confirmation.

McCarthy, who feuded with Gaetz when they both served in the House, told Bloomberg Television that his nomination to serve as attorney general is dead on arrival in the Senate.

“Look, Gaetz won’t get confirmed,” he said. “Everybody knows it.”

Cramer said that analysis is likely correct.

“I think he’s pretty right, actually,” he said.

Cramer said Gaetz is “more than capable of litigating the case for why the [Department of Justice] should be turned on its head” but added that he “just doesn’t have the moral authority” to shake up the department, after being embroiled in a federal sex trafficking investigation.