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Tipsheet

The 'Bonkers' Plan to Set Up Matt Gaetz As Attorney General

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has been nominated as our next attorney general. It’s a pick that sent shockwaves through the DC establishment. Republican senators were reportedly stunned, the Left stroked out, and the media was aghast. To be clear, the selection triggered all the right people. Gaetz is expected to resign from the House of Representatives in preparation for what could be the nastiest, most contentious cabinet confirmation fight ever. 

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Gaetz is a reservoir of controversy, but he’s loyal and has been one of Trump’s most vocal supporters on the Hill. But maybe there won’t be a fight, although the path to confirm Gaetz this way is viewed as “bonkers.” Still, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) offered it to the press straight when asked about Gaetz’s ability to be confirmed: he’d be pushed through via recess appointments (via National Review): 

I’ve been hearing through the grapevine of a crazy plan in which Donald Trump would exercise his authority under Article II, section 3 of the Constitution to adjourn both Houses of Congress so that he could recess-appoint his Cabinet officials. Trump’s stunning announcement that he intends to select Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as his Attorney General lends credence to this rumor, as it is extremely unlikely that the Senate would confirm Gaetz. 

[…] 

The Constitution provides that “[n]either House [of Congress], during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.” (Article I, Section 5, clause 4.) Article II, section 3 provides that “in Case of Disagreement between [the Houses], with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, [the president] may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper.” 

Step 1: The Speaker of the House (presumably Mike Johnson) seeks to adjourn the House for ten days and requests the Senate’s consent to the House’s adjournment. 

Step 2: The Senate refuses to provide its consent to the House’s adjournment. 

Step 3: Trump adjourns both the House and the Senate for ten days (or maybe two years). [But couldn’t Senate just agree to House’s adjournment? Maybe that’s why some folks were so interested in having Rick Scott as Senate majority leader.] 

Step 4: Trump recess-appoints his Cabinet officers. 

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Ed Whelan, who isn’t a fan of the Gaetz pick, wrote the post, adding that if Speaker Johnson is aware of this potential ploy, he needs to reject it immediately. The establishment already frames this push as an evisceration of the Senate’s advice and consent function. 

I don’t think Trump cares. He just won an election, and, for better or worse, he’s acting like it.

***

Ethics issues? What ethics issues?

Plan B?

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