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November 13, 2024 - 10:35pm
Donald Trump announced today that he will elevate Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., as his next attorney general, a post with sweeping powers over the Department of Justice.
Gaetz may be known as a bombastic MAGA supporter in the eyes of the media. He livestreams, he podcasts, he trades barbs with political enemies with acidic bluster. But for those who have closely followed his legislative career, the Florida lawmaker represents a sharp break from the corporate-friendly orthodoxy of the modern Republican Party. Indeed, Gaetz’s elevation will provide sprawling prosecutorial powers for continuing his push against special interest influence and corporate malfeasance.
His record speaks for itself. From his perch on the House Judiciary Committee, Gaetz has promoted a surprisingly consumer-friendly agenda, routinely breaking with his GOP colleagues on crucial votes. He previously supported legislative measures to break up Silicon Valley monopolies, sharply regulate the online data broker industry, ban noncompete employment contracts, and an end to the practice of forced arbitration, among other corporate accountability votes. He has also taken maverick positions on reducing FBI surveillance powers, cutting certain arms supplies to Saudi Arabia and legalising marijuana.
In addition, Gaetz has staked a position at times to the Left of some establishment Democrats. In the fight over the Ending Platform Monopolies Act — a bill designed to curb anticompetitive practices by Amazon and Google — Gaetz ended up supporting the legislation, while California Democrats close to the tech industry, such as Zoe Lofgren and Eric Swalwell, voted against it.
In an era of severe political polarisation, the Florida representative has found opportunities to support actions of the Biden administration. In August, Gaetz wrote a letter to Alphabet chief executive Sundar Pichai, urging him to “adhere fully” to the antitrust ruling against the company secured by the current Department of Justice. He has called on Trump to continue a corporate law enforcement pattern started by the Biden administration. “I would hope that whoever is the next FTC chair would continue many of the cases that Chair Khan has brought against predatory businesses,” Gaetz told the Wall Street Journal.
Gaetz’s dealings with the populist Left do not end there. Not only did he push for a crackdown on the influence industry in Washington, he teamed up with Leftist firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on a demand to end congressional stock trading over concerns that lawmakers have enriched themselves using insider knowledge. “AOC is wrong a lot,” Gaetz said, explaining the bipartisan push. “But she’s not corrupt. And I will work with anyone and everyone to ensure that Congress is not so compromised.”
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SubscribeI have not been paying nearly enough attention and only (half) knew the cartoon version of Matt Gaetz. I stand educated; thank you Lee Fang.
Gaetz might be the walking proof of something I felt a decade ago. If one could get past the dramatic rhetoric of each side you might discover the Tea Party and OWS had more than a few ideas in common.
Let’s see if he gets confirmed (Carlos Danger has guaranteed that he won’t), and if he does, let’s see which version shows up for work.
I wonder if there are any RINOs bold enough to stand against the pressure the all-powerful Trump can bring to bear in the early days of his administration. I think Carlos is wrong on this score.
I haven’t been paying attention to Gaetz either – was only aware of him through the allegations that he was trafficking underage girls. Do we know if these were ever proven to be false?
Going against oligopolies and predatory behaviour will be a huge task for the new AG. There are far too many entrenched and monied beneficiaries of the current system – especially big tech, big pharma and big food.
Good luck!
“There are far too many entrenched and monied beneficiaries of the current system“. Elon Musk springs to mind, but I doubt anyone in the Trump Administration will go after him.
Never seen any evidence that Musk makes his billions by bribing politicians. Perhaps you have some?
Not to mention, Musk has come out and said that he will personally bank a primary against any Senator that decides they’re going to vote against Trump’s appointments.
Money talks in D.C., principles only whisper.
I haven’t heard anything either and since he bought Twitter/X the left would have let the world know about it if there was any evidence, true or circumstantial. I will admit Musk’s wealth largely comes from the government though. I doubt Tesla is even viable without tax credits for buyers and emission credits from other car manufacturers. I’m sure one of SpaceX’s biggest customers is the Federal government.
At least he made his money by inventing things that contribute to society, unlike George Soros who made his money by driving currencies into the ground.
We should be thankful there is an alternative to the lethargic bureaucratic wasteland that NASA has become.
He has grown extremely fat off the government dollar, as far as I can see.
You’re onto something. Musk’s companies would not have survived this long without taxpayer support through regulatory credits and government contracts. I don’t understand how he’s any different than the “beneficiaries of the current system”. But his rep with Trump has garnered enough good favor for him to not be lumped in. To me, it really contradicts any message that Republican Party is the party for the worker class.
I suspect that Matt Geartz is an enlightened choice for AG. No wonder Washington is going bonkers.
(The Party) “…can’t be whores for big business and be the voice of the working class at the same time…”
Bodes well.
Did I miss something? If Gaetz ‘represents the second most significant personnel choice towards a more consumer-centric GOP’ who ranks first?
That puzzled me too. Perhaps Lee Fang is thinking of Joe Biden’s appointment of Lina Khan, the head of the FTC. (Her term expired in September but she is staying on until her successor is confirmed.) As Lee Fang tells us in his article, Matt Gaetz is a Khanservative, along with JD Vance and Josh Hawley. They think that Lina Khan and her hipster-antitrust, neo-Brandeisian Democratic colleagues like Tim Wu, Jonathan Kanter and Barry Lynn are great.
UPDATE: No, it couldn’t have been Lina Khan, she’s a Democrat. Could he have been thinking of JD Vance?
I assumed the writer was anticipating RFKjr being appointed to FDA or something.
I have watched Gaetz through many hours of Congressional hearings. He has a razor-sharp mind and the doggedness of an American XL Bully. These qualities will serve him well when he wades into the DOJ sector of the murky deep state.
I think that President-elect Trump is being very clever. Think about how Mike Goetz has been a disruptive influence in the house recently. Even with the 10-vote plurality that the Republicans now have in the House of Representatives, they are still going to have trouble getting legislation passed through a continuingly obstructive Democratic minority. What better way than to elevate Goetz to a position in which he has to first resign from the House of Representatives to take the position as Atty. Gen. If he has many enemies, they are concentrating on preventing him from becoming Atty. Gen. then Trump kills two birds with one stone by nominating him: he gets him out of the House of Representatives, where he was becoming a pain to Republicans, and he then gets another opportunity to nominate somebody he really wants the second time around. This would put pressure on the Democrats ( and Rhinos) to have to confirm the second person nominated or, if they attempted to deny that one, this would paint them as obstructionists and against the total mandate that Trump was handed by the American people in the last election. So, Trump is playing the chess game, sacrificing a piece for the position, then attacking again and winning the game.
Not a serious pick. Won’t get approved by Congress. Gaetz has too many enemies.
Which begs question what’s Trumpster up to you? One gets the sense he’s developed a Monty Pythonesque humour and even for his opponents it must offer some amusement.
The day before he creates a couple of non jobs in a new quango for Elon and Vivek to share and titles it the Dept of Govt Efficiency. Yes, an additional Govt dept to tackle the sprawl of Govt, and furthermore given a year and a half to produce a Report. Doh! I thought they knew where all the waste was already? Straight out of an episode of Yes Minister. And ‘to share’ !! You heard that right too. Jeez it’ll be fun watching those two egos look to out headline each other whilst dragged into a quagmire of employment law shortly followed no doubt by the mass firing of, for example a bunch of Food inspectors, followed by the inevitable salmonella outbreak somewhere. Welcome to the reality and responsibility of Govt boys. It’s not so easy is it etc. Trumpster is teaching them a lesson – don’t get ahead of yourselves there is only one Star in this operation and it’s me. Quite funny.
You still don’t get, do you? Probably never will.
Remember in Trump’s first term how he wanted Congressman Dan Ratcliffe as the Director of National Intelligence and the Senate refused to confirm him… so Trump simply appointed someone they liked even less as acting director (Ric Grennell) until they relented and confirmed Ratcliffe? Yeah, I think the Senate will eventually see the light. They are playing on the same gameboard this time around.
For F’s sake, get a grip. By all means enjoy the Trump victory and relish what sort of sorely-needed creative disruption some of his bolder picks might bring. But Matt Gaetz as AG?! Come on, you might as well pick Jeffrey Epstein’s rotting corpse.
Gaetz is almost certainly a serial sexual grub and he is at the very least a deeply-compromised figure who can’t possibly deal in any way usefully with the DoJ. I mean that in every possible sense. He’s also despised by most of his own party and there’s every chance he won’t last two minutes in confirmation hearings.
Absolutely Trump should select his team to leverage his eye-popping clean-sweep mandate to drain the swamp, etc. But Gaetz is one of the slimiest creatures in, and most decadent creators of, the thing in the first place.
On reflection: see Carlos Danger post/my reply. This pick is pure hustle.
And there you go repeating the slanderious lies of the current DOJ who sought to frame Gaetz and defame him. Way to be part of the swamp
And here we thought all the left-wing tears had been shed.