As attorney general, Gaetz would go from being under DOJ scrutiny to leading the nation’s top law enforcement agency
CNN
One career official described hearing audible cries of “oh my God” echoing down the hallway inside DOJ’s headquarters.
When President-elect Donald Trump tapped Matt Gaetz for attorney general, he elevated a MAGA firebrand with a penchant for stoking controversy and a history of getting out of trouble to lead a Justice Department that has investigated both men. Gaetz, a career politician with limited experience practicing law, resigned from his seat in Congress just hours after Trump announced earlier this week his intention to nominate him as the top federal law enforcement officer in the United States. The Florida Republican has a tense history with the Justice Department, clashing with officials during contentious oversight hearings where he accused the department of being “weaponized” against Trump and fellow conservatives and decrying the yearslong federal sex-crimes investigation of him that began during the Trump administration. (Prosecutors ultimately declined to charge him.) Gaetz would be able to take on the Justice Department from the inside, molding the institution and its law enforcement components, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration, to fit his vision — and Trump’s. Democrats on Capitol Hill and some legal scholars have flatly said Gaetz is unqualified for the job, and even people close to Gaetz told CNN they are concerned he may not be a good fit at the department and may have trouble winning confirmation by the Senate if there’s a vote on his nomination. But many Republicans and Gaetz allies have touted his aggressive style as an essential attribute for an attorney general. Sources close to Trump said he sees Gaetz as an effective messenger of his agenda and believes his appointees to other top positions at the Justice Department can handle day-to-day duties.
President Donald Trump is reshaping a Colorado Republican primary by offering one of the candidates a role in his administration and returning his endorsement to the incumbent, whom he called a “RINO” just last month.
More than a month into the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are reckoning with their own travel privileges amid anxieties the funding crunch could exacerbate issues at already understaffed airports around the country.
TV host and comedian Bill Maher has been chosen to receive the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, two sources close to the Kennedy Center told CNN.
Conventional wisdom has set in that President Donald Trump’s base is sticking with him on the Iran war, but he has alienated significant portions of his voters — and risks alienating more.
US officials are furiously trying to avert a potential monthslong closure of the Strait of Hormuz, privately acknowledging that reopening the key waterway is a problem without a clear solution and dependent at least in part on what lengths President Donald Trump is willing to go to force the Iranian regime’s hand, multiple administration and intelligence officials tell CNN.
The chief executive of Live Nation testified Thursday that it was “disgusting” that a top ticketing employee talked about “robbing fans blind” in internal messages.
Supreme Court revives First Amendment lawsuit from street preacher who called concertgoers ‘sissies’
The Supreme Court on Friday revived a First Amendment lawsuit from a street preacher who used a loudspeaker to call people “whores,” “Jezebels” and “sissies” as they tried to enter an amphitheater to attend concerts in a suburban Mississippi community.
As millions of Americans braced for a series of brutal storms this winter, the senior official in charge of the federal government’s disaster response had been on the job only a few weeks — and had previously claimed on podcasts that he once teleported to a Waffle House.
Air travelers across the US continue to face travel headaches as Transportation Security Administration workers go without full pay. Find the latest live updates here.
Veterans’ advocates are raising concerns that a new agreement between the departments of Veterans Affairs and Justice could take away veterans’ autonomy over their health care decisions and deter them from seeking care, particularly those facing homelessness.
Admirers of Cesar Chavez and public officials are scrambling to respond to claims about the man who has been honored with holidays, statues and school names in communities around the country.
The co-founder of Super Micro Computer and two others were charged with diverting $2.5 billion worth of servers with Nvidia’s artificial intelligence chips to China, in violation of US laws barring exports to that country without a license.
The Treasury Department will begin to manage federal student loans in default, taking on a key function of the Education Department as the Trump administration further pushes to dismantle it.