Rarely in politics does a theoretical conversation become practical the way it did in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday. Broad questions about how comfortable Senate Republicans will be with acquiescing to Donald Trump’s desires in the morning became tightly focused on his pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, in the afternoon.
Trump has made clear he wants his people in office, whether or not the Senate deliberates on it. He’s called for recess appointments and put his allies atop newly created departments that seemingly sidestep the confirmation process altogether.
“I think it’s obvious why you want to work around the Senate when you’re nominating Matt Gaetz to be attorney general,” a senior GOP aide told NOTUS.