Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from the House last week. That is final. The precedent of the House is that once you bow out, it is done. So, Gaetz cannot revoke his letter of resignation last week. It declared he was stepping aside "effective immediately."
As reported earlier, Gaetz could serve in the new Congress. He was duly re-elected to his seat for the new Congress to be seated on Jan. 3. In his letter to the clerk of the House, Gaetz declared, "I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration."
However, Fox is told that Gaetz would have to inform the clerk of the House that he, in fact, does intend to serve in the new Congress – if he elects to do so. Gaetz has not signaled his future plans. That part of the Gaetz letter is not binding.
Technically, the House Ethics Committee must wrap up its inquiry into Gaetz by the end of this Congress at 11:59:59 am EST on Jan. 3. However, there is precedent for the House Ethics Committee voting to carry over an inquiry from one Congress to another. So it’s not unheard of that this is a done deal.
The committee still wants to finish its current work. However, if Gaetz is not going to serve in the new Congress and has withdrawn his nomination for attorney general, this likely diminishes the importance of publicly releasing the report of a former member. Yes, there may be damning information in the report, but the House usually does not release reports about former members – even though there is precedent for doing so. Moreover, the Senate Judiciary Committee isn’t interested in the report, now that Gaetz is not before them as the attorney general nominee.
In addition, if Gaetz does elect to serve in the House, that would help the GOP with their numbers, with Reps. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Michael Waltz, R-Minn. – and maybe more – leaving to join the Trump administration.
How many? And how fast? That’s the question for the Senate in early January as it will sprint to confirm as many of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees as possible. Senators cannot do much right now for a couple of reasons: Republicans are not in charge of the Senate, and Trump does not take office until noon EST on Jan. 20. However, there will be a flurry of action in January.
First the mechanics.
The incoming president was caught flat-footed in 2016 when he won. Trump lacked the personnel and political infrastructure to quickly develop a Cabinet, so he relied on the Republican National Committee and other "establishment" Republicans to assemble his slate of nominees. Many of the nominees were not "Trump people." They struggled to build chemistry with the new president. Thus, Trump canned many when they rejected his wishes.
This time around, the incoming president is certainly tapping nominees who are aligned with his movement and are Trump loyalists. They may outrage the left – and, frankly, some on the right. However, they are his picks. That alone might smooth the confirmation process in some respects.
In late 2016, Republicans controlled the Senate. That enabled them to prepare prompt confirmation hearings for early January 2017. The confirmation hearing for former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., to serve as attorney general came on Jan. 10-11. Future Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly appeared before senators for his hearing on Jan. 10. The hearing for Rex Tillerson to become secretary of state was Jan. 11. The Senate Armed Services Committee heard from Defense secretary nominee James Mattis on Jan. 12.
However, the Senate could not vote to confirm those nominees until the new president took office on Jan. 20. In the waning hours of Jan. 20, the Senate confirmed Mattis and Kelly.
For instance, the Senate did not confirm then-Transportation Secretary Elain Chao – and the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. – until Jan. 31.
The Senate will have a rocket docket in early 2025.
As soon as senators brave the January chill and return from the viewing stand on the West Front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, they will warm their hands. Maybe sip a hot coffee or a scotch. It is then likely the Senate will vote on a comprehensive slate of Trump’s nominees into the evening.
"I want to see us ready and poised to put President Trump's nominees into the job on day one," said Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn. "We should be ready with his many Cabinet positions to confirm on the 21st of January as we possibly can."
"What are Democrats prepared to do in response? Whatever it takes," Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on MSNBC. "Donald Trump is way beyond making a mockery of what an incoming president should be doing, regardless of who’s in the majority of Congress."
Others want to at least conduct due diligence on the nominees. They are especially leery of the Senate circumventing the conventional confirmation process and installing some nominees without a vote during a recess of both the House and Senate.
"That's why we have to have hearings. That's why this commotion about recess appointments in which Trump would get some of his cabinet picks in place without hearings and confirmation votes is incredibly disturbing because there are some really serious financial questions about his team. Especially his national security team," said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., on CNN.
Trump has signaled – and incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has indicated a willingness – to potentially put some flailing nominees in place via recess appointments.
"Recess appointments go back to the beginning of our republic," said Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Fox, arguing their legitimacy.
However, Cotton suggested it was only liberals who were exercised about the possibility of recess appointments.
"Once again, the left doesn't seem to have learned anything from the campaign or really the last eight years. Hyperventilating about a supposedly anti-constitutional practice, which is in the Constitution itself.," said Cotton. "But I don't foresee a need for recess appointments because I expect the Senate to work promptly and efficiently to process all of these nominations and to put Donald Trump's Cabinet in place."
Republicans are willing to blame Democrats for potential holdups on various nominees – potentially necessitating recess appointments. Ironically though, the issue would lie with the GOP.
Senate Republicans will have 53 seats next year. It only takes 51 "yeas" to overcome a filibuster on a nominee for an administration post. Also, a simple majority to confirm. That is why some Republicans are keeping an eye on senators who they believe could defect – depending on the nominee.
It starts with McConnell. The Kentucky Republican suffered from polio as a child. Watch to see how he might vote when it comes to Health and Human Services secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Of course, McConnell will no longer lead Senate Republicans, so it is unclear how much sway he still commands around the Senate.
"When he speaks, people will listen," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., to Al Weaver of The Hill.
Also in play is Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., along with Rep. and Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah.
Then there are Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Susan Collins, R-Maine. Both periodically bucked Trump during his previous term.
"It would be a mistake in most cases to curtail the investigative process and the public hearings, because that is the Senate's constitutional responsibility," said Collins.
The Maine Republican noted it is OK to short-circuit the process for "minor roles in the administration," but nothing else.
"Certainly, when we’re talking about the Cabinet positions, we need to go through the normal process," said Collins.
Do not think for a moment that the new president and his enforcers on Capitol Hill will not be tracking potential defectors.
"We’ve got the numbers to do it ourselves," said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. "We don’t need any Democrats to help us."
There is a reason Trump dispatched Vice President-elect JD Vance to Capitol Hill this week to meet with senators and nominees.
Left-wing Democrats are appalled by some of the president-elect’s picks for his Cabinet, and some of them will follow what colleagues on their side of the aisle do, too.
"I'm going to be watching every single Senate confirmation hearing because that will be the opportunity for our Senate colleagues to tell the truth. To tell the story. To shame the devil," Rep.-elect Lateefah Simon, D-Calif., warned on MSNBC.
So in January, get out your speed gun to clock the pace of confirmations. Also, observe the willingness of Republicans to either go along with the president-elect or stand on principle if they hold substantial opposition to a nominee. That could tell us a great deal about the nature of the Senate under incoming President Trump. The next thing to watch? Whether there will be retribution for those who buck him.
