Sen.-elect Curtis was one of the Republican senators who wouldn’t vote for Gaetz’s AG nomination, sources say

SALT LAKE CITY — Sources tell NBC that Some Republican senators, including a newly elected Utah senator, were planning to vote against President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general.

According to an NBC report, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, and Sen.-elect John Curtis of Utah were at least five Senate Republicans who were planning to vote against Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

NBC reported that the five senators “had communicated to other senators and those close to Trump that they were unlikely to be swayed, according to multiple people with direct knowledge.”

On Thursday, Gaetz announced his abrupt withdrawal as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer, just a day after a closed-door meeting with several senators to win their support.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in a statement. “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. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1.”

On Nov. 13, the Flordia Republican stepped down from his House seat after Trump announced Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general. After the announcement, several members of Congress on both sides of the aisle requested that the results of Gaetz’s ethics report from the House Ethics Committee be released.

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According to The Associated Press, in 2023, Gaetz was being investigated by the Justice Department after allegations of sex trafficking involving underage girls, which ended with no federal charges being filed.

However, Gaetz hasn’t been able to escape the rumors and allegations as the House Ethics Committee has been investigating him throughout three years of allegations, including sexual misconduct, illegal drug use, accepting bribes, and improper gifts, according to NBC.

“In the end, it was the ‘combination of the ethics report and opposition among Senate Republicans’ that doomed Gaetz’s candidacy,” NBC reported.

KSL TV asked Sen.-elect Curtis’s office to comment on the NBC report claiming he would vote against Gaetz. Curtis’ chief of staff, Corey Norman, provided this statement:

Senator-elect Curtis believes that every president is afforded a degree of deference to select his team and make nominations. He also firmly believes in and is committed to the Senate’s critical role to confirm or reject nominations based on information and insight from confirmation hearings. Curtis takes his constitutional duty to provide advice and consent seriously and his goal is to ensure that Utahns’ voices are heard. He plans to carefully examine the records and qualifications of every nominee President-elect Trump sends to the Senate.

This is the same statement provided to KSL TV when asked about Curtis’s thoughts about Trump’s comments about bypassing Senate confirmation of his nominees and installing them immediately through a recess appointment.

On Saturday, KSL TV was notified that Norman provided another statement on behalf of Curtis’s office denying NBC and New York Times reports:

Senator-elect Curtis is committed to upholding the Senate’s critical responsibility of confirming or rejecting nominations only after a thorough review, which includes personal meetings and formal confirmation hearings. He is dedicated to meeting with every nominee to ensure his decisions align with the best interests of the people of Utah. Reports suggesting that Curtis rejected the Gaetz nomination before completing this process are inaccurate. The Senator-elect did not meet with Mr. Gaetz and had no intention of rejecting the nomination prior to their meeting.

 

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