President-elect Donald Trump nominated Representative Matt Gaetz as his attorney general, shocking many with his decision to name the loyalist the next head of the Justice Department.
Trump announced the surprise pick on Wednesday, describing Gaetz as “a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
Gaetz, who was the subject of a federal sex trafficking investigation that concluded after the Biden administration declined to bring charges in 2023, received his Juris Doctor from William & Mary Law School in 2007. He was admitted to the Florida Bar the following year and worked in private practice before launching his campaign for state representative in 2010.
Gaetz is in good standing and eligible to practice law, according to the Florida Bar.
In 2021, the bar briefly suspended him from practicing law because he was “delinquent” on his fees. He was reinstated shortly after paying the dues.
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Despite serving on the House Judiciary Committee since first being elected to Congress in 2017, Gaetz is better known as a rising MAGA star and conservative firebrand. Over the last eight years, he’s built a reputation as one of Trump’s staunchest allies in Congress.
The Florida Republican also made headlines last year for spearheading the effort to block and later oust Representative Kevin McCarthy’s speakership bid.
In 2021, just before news of the federal sex trafficking probe broke, nearly three dozen of Gaetz’s former classmates called on him to resign. More than 500 William & Mary Law School alumni, including 34 members of Gaetz’s graduating class, signed a petition urging him to step down. The letter criticized Gaetz’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his claims about Antifa being behind the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The Justice Department had been investigating whether Gaetz broke federal law by having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, who he allegedly paid to travel with him. If confirmed by the Senate, he will now lead the same federal agency.
“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump said in his Wednesday announcement. “Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
“He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law,” the president-elect said of Gaetz. “Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution. We must have Honesty, Integrity, and Transparency at DOJ. Under Matt’s leadership, all Americans will be proud of the Department of Justice once again.”
Gaetz’s appointment follows a string of other Trump cabinet picks. Over the last few days, Trump has announced the nomination of more than a dozen allies who could soon hold some of the highest-ranking positions in the federal government.
Trump also shocked observers on Tuesday after he picked Fox anchor Pete Hegseth for his defense secretary and announced the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency, which will be co-chaired by Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
