Many Republican senators were stunned that Representative Matt Gaetz, Republican of Florida, had been chosen as the nominee, and expressed skepticism that he could secure enough votes for confirmation.

In picking Rep. Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general, President-elect Donald Trump is looking to install a fierce loyalist — who has been seen as divisive even within his own party — over some of the more established attorneys whose names had been mentioned for the nation's top federal prosecutor post.

President-elect Donald Trump has been nominating loyalists to serve in his Cabinet, and nowhere is that more obvious than in his pick for attorney general: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida).

Republican senators reacted with shock and incredulity to the news that Donald Trump wants Matt Gaetz to be attorney general.

Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to be his attorney general, indicating the conservative firebrand could have a tough road to confirmation. Republicans largely refrained from wading into whether Gaetz — who’s under investigation by the Department of Justice and faces a House Ethics Committee probe — could be confirmed.

The Florida congressman would be the first U.S. attorney general in four decades who never worked as a government attorney or judge.

Rep. Matt Gaetz (FL) speaks on Day 3 of the Republican National Convention (RNC), at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., July 17, 2024. REUTERS/Je