How the Lingering Ghost of Kevin McCarthy Killed Gaetz’s AG Run
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida emerges from a meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members at the Capitol on Wednesday. Source: J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press
On November 20, 2024, the U.S. The House Ethics Committee voted on whether to release its report on former Representative Matt Gaetz, who was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as attorney general. The committee met for roughly two hours and, upon their disbandment, the panel’s chair Republican Rep. Michael Guest revealed that “There was not an agreement by the committee to release the report.” Rep. Susan Wild, the top-ranking Democrat on the panel, told sources that “a vote was taken.” However, the panel was unable to reach a consensus. Given that the ten-member committee is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, “to affirmatively move something forward, somebody has to cross party lines and vote with the other side ... that did not happen in today's vote,” said Wild.
These results led Democrat Rep. Sean Casten to introduce a privileged resolution to the floor, forcing the House to take a vote that would mandate the report’s release. Any member of the House can file for a privileged resolution under the pretense that it’s vital to the dignity and integrity of the House. If Casten’s resolution is able to pass all procedural rules and standards, then the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is required to hold a floor vote within two legislative days.
This commotion over the report’s release came just a day after Gaetz and Vice President-elect Sen. JD Vance made a trip to Capitol Hill to gauge the temperature of the Gaetz accusations and secure a handful of wavering confirmation votes. However, Gaetz made a great deal of enemies during his time on Capitol Hill. This includes a large faction of the GOP conference who are still seething over Gaetz’s initiating role in the ousting of Kevin McCarthy late last year. The former speaker left Congress altogether at the end of 2023, but has since put copious amounts of time and resources into toppling the careers of those who ousted him. At a recent Georgetown University seminar, McCarthy went so far as to insist that the only reason he lost the speaker’s gavel was because “one person wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old”. He then went on to add that he did not know if the accusations were true after publicly smearing Gaetz.
It was unclear if McCarthy’s confidants were willing to risk Trump’s wrath by crossing the aisle and voting with Democrats to force the report’s release. However, their public disapproval put the nail in Gaetz’s coffin before a vote on the report could even be held. On Thursday, November 21, the President-elect called Gaetz to deliver the tough news that he didn’t have the votes for confirmation as AG and the Senators weren’t budging, according to a source briefed on the conversation. All the groveling from Vance and Gaetz during their Wednesday field trip couldn't move the needle on confirmation in the upper chamber. In a grim acceptance of political reality, Gaetz took to X, formerly known as Twitter, stating, “There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General.”
There is little doubt that McCarthy and his allies are reveling in Gaetz’s political flameout. Brittany Martinez, a former staffer of the speaker said "I think justice has been served today” in a report to KBAC. Although both figures have retired their public posts, McCarthy is raking in $100,000 to $150,000 per public appearance. Gaetz, on the other hand, has just launched a Cameo profile, charging $500 per personalized video. This decision mirrors a similar choice of a previously expelled member, George Santos, who was booted from the House for financial violations. The speedy pivot from politician to Cameo star is a humbling move for a former Congressman. While it is unclear where the Gaetz-McCarthy revenge tour will stop next, it's unlikely either of the men are packing it up soon.