Republican senators divided on release of Matt Gaetz ethics report

By Mary Clare Jalonick, Stephen Groves and Lisa Mascaro

Nov. 19, 2024 5:56 PM PT

WASHINGTON — As President-elect Donald Trump digs in on his pick of former Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Republican senators are divided over how much information they will demand to approve his confirmation and how much to resist Trump as he demands that they quickly rubber-stamp his Cabinet choices — if they weigh in at all — once he takes office in January.

Gaetz, who has been calling senators and is expected to start meeting with some of them as soon as this week, is an unconventional and controversial pick for the nation’s top law enforcement official. His nomination creates a confirmation climb in the Senate, where many Republicans are deeply uncomfortable with his selection.

The Florida Republican spent his congressional career agitating against the Justice Department and has faced a House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct — allegations Gaetz denies. He is also deeply unpopular within his own party after leading the push to oust former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield last year.

Publicly, Republican senators say they will give Gaetz the same due process that they give any other nominee. Most are loath to criticize him directly. But they are split on whether to demand access to the House ethics report, which the Ethics Committee could choose to release after Gaetz resigned last week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has positioned himself as Trump’s top ally in Congress, said last week that he will “strongly request” that the Ethics Committee not release the results of its investigation.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, who will become Senate majority leader in January, deferred to Johnson, saying Monday that the ethics report is “a House issue.” But several in his conference argued that the Senate should see the report, whether it is released publicly or not.

“There’s nothing about that that would smell right, to say, ‘Hey, there’s a report but none of us want to see it,’” said Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.).

Republican Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin, who served in the House with Gaetz, said the ethics report is important for the Senate’s “advice and consent” role laid out in the Constitution. “I think the report from the House plays a pivotal role in that,” he said.

Others said the information would come out one way or another, even if it isn’t released. “I’m going to honor Speaker Johnson’s position,” said North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. “I think it’s a reasonable position.”

The simmering clash between the Senate, House and Trump could be just the first of many to come. Trump has made clear he expects next year’s unified Republican Congress to give him broad leeway on his nominees, and has already been making some calls to senators.

Cabinet nominees have traditionally provided a flood of paperwork to Senate committees ahead of their confirmation hearings, participating in background checks by the FBI and filling out lengthy questionnaires that probe their lives and careers in detail. But Trump’s transition has already signaled that it might not request the background checks and has so far declined to sign agreements with the White House and the Department of Justice to allow that process to begin.

The documentation, including the criminal background checks and financial vetting, could be key for senators in both parties who have questions about Gaetz and some of Trump’s other more controversial nominees, including former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence, Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for secretary of Health and Human Services.

In the absence of the traditional process, whether to proceed without an FBI background check would be up to individual committee chairs, who will be under pressure from Trump and his allies to move his nominees quickly. On Tuesday, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the incoming No. 2 Republican under Thune, said the Senate will begin hearings once Republicans take the majority on Jan. 3 and start holding confirmation votes once Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

Republican senators say they will demand that documentation, but it’s unclear how that might work if Trump’s transition doesn’t consent to it.

“I think that if they want a speedy consideration of this nomination we’ve got to have as much transparency as we can have,” said Iowa Sen. Charles E. Grassley, who will serve as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman next year. “Because you’ve heard my colleagues, especially on the Republican side, say that they have some questions.”

Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the incoming chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he wants a traditional process involving the full FBI background check for Hegseth and the committee’s other nominees. “We should do it by the numbers,” Wicker said.

Democrats are wary, though, that the process could get muddled, or curtailed, as Trump ramps up the pressure on Senate Republicans.

“If there’s a cursory background check, like we call 20 people — that’s not going to be appropriate,” said Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the current chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee who will be the panel’s top Democrat next year.

Meanwhile, Gaetz has already paid a visit to at least one group of potential allies, the hard-right House Freedom Caucus, where he outlined for the group “some of the things that need to be done at the Department of Justice to end the weaponization,” said Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.), the chairman of the Freedom Caucus.

Among the ideas Gaetz discussed was “eliminating a lot of the senior staff,” Harris said.

As for the allegations of sexual misconduct against Gaetz, Harris dismissed them, saying, “Last time I looked, in America, you’re innocent until proven guilty.” He said he did not believe the House Ethics Committee files on Gaetz should be released.

“We think that the president deserves to get his selections approved for the Cabinet,” Harris said.

Johnson also made clear his position Tuesday, telling reporters that the Senate should do its job and “sure, take a look, do a deep dive,” and then move them along for confirmation so “the president has the team in place to do what the American people have elected him to do.”

“I think President Trump is looking for persons who will shake up the status quo,” Johnson said.

Trump has also said he wants to use recess appointments, if necessary, to appoint some of his nominees without Senate approval.

Jalonick, Groves and Mascaro write for the Associated Press.