Trump encounters Senate GOP limits with failed Gaetz AG push

President-elect Trump's ill-fated nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to run the Justice Department marked an early sign of his potential limits in moving his nominees and dealing with Senate Republicans, giving him less wiggle room to get his Cabinet in place.

Riding high off his electoral win earlier this month, Trump tapped Gaetz to become attorney general in what emerged as a quick test for Senate Republicans, with Trump expecting them to capitulate to him as they have numerous times over the years.

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But Gaetz turned out to be toxic. His withdrawal served as strike one for Trump’s selections and as a warning from the Senate GOP that this situation should not be repeated, as the former president cannot afford to let one of his nominees fail on the floor in the coming months.

“You have no idea how easy it is to vote against a person in power if you let them do it once,” one GOP senator told The Hill.

The experience also may be a lesson for Team Trump moving forward.

“You can pick somebody that is unconventional and generally antiestablishment … but Gaetz is a reminder that the person matters,” one Senate GOP aide told The Hill. “I think Trump is cognizant that he doesn’t want individuals who ultimately overshadow him and his agenda with their baggage.”

Senate Republicans for weeks have loudly proclaimed Trump has the prerogative to have his Cabinet selections put into place, with many signaling they are willing to move almost in lockstep with those picks.

Trump’s selection of Gaetz, however, tested that theory immediately, leading the former House member to step aside after many lawmakers — including a number of Trump allies — made it clear they had little interest in confirming him, let alone holding a vote that would have been a difficult one for many to take.

The eight-day drama prompted Trump to nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R), who is expected to have a much easier time winning a floor vote.

But whether Trump goes back to the well for figures in the mold of Gaetz after his failure to launch is an open question, with Republicans concerned that if any such nominee makes it to the floor and fails, the incoming administration may not recover.

“An early failed vote could have laid the groundwork for a lame-duck four years,” the Senate GOP member said.

Republicans will now turn their attention to a trio of nominees — former Fox News Pete Hegseth, former Rep, Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former independent presidential candidate. Trump is hopeful none of them will meet the same fate as Gaetz, though questions are plentiful on each.

The most immediate concern is Hegseth, the nominee to head the Pentagon. After he was nominated, a 2017 sexual assault accusation surfaced. He told reporters “the matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared and that’s where I am going to leave it.” He is also facing questions about his strident stance against women serving in combat.

But Gabbard, Trump’s pick for director of national intelligence, could have an equally arduous road to confirmation as Hegseth.

Gabbard, a former House Democrat, has raised eyebrows with past remarks on the Ukraine war that seemed to echo the talking points of Russian state media. This is of concern to a number of defense hawks and backers of Kyiv within the upper chamber, and that could give her trouble when all is said and done.

As for Kennedy, he is viewed as the most likely of the three to get through the Senate, despite his skepticism on vaccines and other positions senators may find questionable.

But it’s the Gaetz experience that sources believe can be instructive in the coming days and weeks with these choices.

“I think this is a reminder that he can get people in there that are going to shake things up and are unconventional choices, but if you have somebody who has essentially been a terror when it comes to relationships on [Capitol] Hill and somebody that faces the personal baggage that he does — that stuff gets in the way of Trump’s ultimate agenda,” the Senate GOP aide said.

This does not mean Trump is left without arrows in his quiver, especially only weeks after his general election victory that brought with it majorities in both chambers. Among them is the potential for recess appointments to install one or more Cabinet choices.

The theory is unproven, but Trump could move to adjourn the Senate into recess if both chambers do not agree to do so.

Some Senate Republicans still believe that is an unlikely road to be traveled down for numerous reasons. Foremost, it could harm relations with the upper chamber as it would mark an attempt to circumnavigate senators' advice and consent role on nominees.

“It's hard for me to imagine a scenario where a Republican Congress would allow a recess appointment when we actually have the majority to make the decision,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told Politico Playbook on Thursday.

But despite questions surrounding its validity, there was a reason Trump floated the idea mere days after his Nov. 5 win, with potential problems implementing his Cabinet in mind.

“This was ultimately a test of where the threshold is for him to win a vote to recess in one of the houses. Because sure, it was problematic they couldn’t get to 50 with Gaetz, but the real issue is, they couldn’t get the House to vote to recess knowing it was about Gaetz,” the Senate GOP aide said, noting that if any entity dislikes Gaetz more than the Senate Republican Conference, it is House Republicans.

“With the other nominees, I don’t know that he has that same problem,” they added.