Trump’s transition live: Matt Gaetz’s Attorney General pick sends shockwaves around Washington
Donald Trump has picked his controversial MAGA ally to oversee the nation’s Justice Department
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of former Florida Representative Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general has sent shockwaves around Washington.
Gaetz resigned from his seat in the US House of Representatives in light of the news, Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed on Wednesday. This will effectively end the House Ethics probe into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use made against him.
Republicans and Democrats are shocked by his nomination and there were audible gasps by House Republicans at a conference meeting on Wednesday when the news about Gaetz broke, according toAxios.
“I don’t think it’s a serious nomination for the attorney general,” Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski said.
Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, told The Independent the announcement sounded like a headline in a satire publication. “That was in The Onion,” he said.
Trump has also chosen former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio to join his administration. Gabbard is set to serve as the director of national intelligence while Rubio has been nominated to be secretary of state.
Meanwhile, the Republicans have gained control of the House, completing their trifecta.
Trump nominates MAGA congressman Matt Gaetz as surprise attorney general pick
Pence says he doesn’t want Trump to pardon Jan 6 rioters and prays for president-elect to ‘stand on his oath’
Republicans insist Trump was ‘joking’ about unconstitutional third term. A Democrat wants to make sure he won’t try
Trump’s win has been described as resounding. It was closer than you think
‘The least qualified nominee in American history’: Why Trump picked Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defense
The second in command to the nation’s military could end up being a Fox News pundit who wants to launch a “frontal assault” against top brass, kick women out of combat, and implement Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda for the world’s third-largest standing fighting force.
Read more:
Why Trump nominated a ‘wholly unqualified’ Fox News host for defense secretary
Veterans groups and service members are warning against Trump’s ‘dangerous’ appointment to the Pentagon, as the president-elect rewards loyalists dedicated to his agenda, Alex Woodward reports
The Guardian leaves X, calling it a ‘toxic media platform’
The Guardian newspaper has announced it will stop posting on X, formerly Twitter, describing the social media platform as “toxic”.
The news outlet wrote on its website on Wednesday that it had considered the decision for a while due to the “often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform”, but the US election earlier in November “underlined” its decision.
“This is something we have been considering for a while given the often disturbing content promoted or found on the platform, including far-right conspiracy theories and racism,” The Guardian wrote.
The Guardian leaves X, calling it a ‘toxic media platform’
The Guardian said the US presidential election campaign ‘underlined’ its decision to leave the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.
The f-word is having a heyday around the US election. This lexicographer has researched it for decades
It’s a word that’s been gleefully co-opted by both sides of the political spectrum for their most basic rallying cries (F*** Joe Biden. F*** Trump), and it’s having a veritable heyday this week in the wake of US presidential election results – as Republicans and Democrats exclaim the expletive with polar-opposite emotion: F*** yes versus F*** no.
In Germany, one weekly newspaper even went so far as to run a Wednesday piece with a one-word headline featuring only the four-letter profanity. “F***,” Die Zeit wrote bluntly.
Luckily, as the world deems the swear word uniquely applicable in various capacities after an emotionally exhausting and far-reaching shift in US politics, there’s a brand-new edition of a book dedicated to the definition, uses and etymology of the f-word.
F*** – it’s a new book about the f-word
Long-time favorite four-letter-word ‘f***’ has crept more steadily in recent decades into media, society, slang and even politics. As many Americans (and global citizens) exclaimed it around the US presidential race and results, a new edition of lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower’s The F-Word has been published. He shares some ‘f****ing’ factoids with Sheila Flynn
Republicans insist Trump was ‘joking’ about unconstitutional third term. A Democrat wants to make sure he won’t try
Donald Trump mused on Wednesday about the prospect of serving a constitutionally barred third term as president, though his Republican colleagues insist he was just joking.
“I suspect I won’t be running again, unless you do something,” Trump reportedly told his GOP colleagues in the House, as they met ahead of congressional leadership elections. “Unless you say, ‘He’s so good, we have to just figure it out.’”
Those in the room later said the president-elect was only kidding. The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution specifies that presidents can only serve up to two full terms.
“That was a joke. It was clearly a joke,” Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee told The Hill. “I leaned over to somebody beside me, [Arizona Rep.] Andy Biggs, and I said, that’ll be the headlines tomorrow, ‘Trump trying to thwart the Constitution,’ which — there’s nothing further from the truth.”
Not everyone seemed to feel that way.
Republicans insists Trump ‘joking’ about unconstitutional third term
Comment came as House prepared for leadership elections
Matt Gaetz selection as Attorney General draws quick blowback from halls of Congress and social media
Donald Trump has tapped GOP Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida for Attorney General, prompting concern and disdain among lawmakers and social media users on both sides of the aisle.
Trump’s nomination of Gaetz comes after the lawmaker and his associates were at the center of a sex trafficking investigation carried out by current Attorney General Merrick Garland. Gaetz was ultimately never charged with a crime but remains the subject of a House ethics committee investigation regarding, among other claims, allegations he had sex with a minor. Gaetz has denied all wrongdoing.
“He is a Champion for the Constitution and the Rule of Law,” Trump wrote in his announcement. “Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution.”
Matt Gaetz selection as Attorney General nominee draws quick blowback from lawmakers
‘God help us,’ Representative Maxwell Frost, a fellow Floridian, posted in response to the news
Dick Van Dyke, 98, makes dark joke about Trump’s second term
Legendary actor Dick Van Dyke has reacted in disdain to Donald Trump’s second-term presidential win after previously endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.
The Mary Poppins star, who turns 99 next month, was recently out and about with his 52-year-old wife, Arlene Silver, when he was approached by a reporter and asked if he thought the future looked bright for America.
“I hope you’re right,” Dyke can be heard telling the reporter in a clip published by The Daily Mail.
When asked if he thinks Trump is capable of making America great again, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang actor quipped: “Fortunately, I won’t be around to experience the four years.”
Dick Van Dyke, 98, makes dark joke about Trump’s second term
Earlier this month, the ‘Marry Poppins’ star, 98, endorsed Kamala Harris while reciting a speech he once read alongside Martin Luther King Jr
Matt Gaetz resigns from House of Representatives
Representative Matt Gaetz handed his resignation letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday, just after Donald Trump named him the nominee for Attorney General.
Johnson told reporters the Florida lawmaker’s resignation is “effective immediately.” Gaetz’s resignation also ends the House ethics committee investigation into allegations against him of sexual misconduct and drug use, among other claims.
Far-right House members suggest rebellion against Johnson could be on the horizon
Republican members of the House of Representatives emerged from their caucus meeting on Wednesday with their moods bolstered by the successful retention of their majority - but with clear signs that a post-election unity period may be short-lived.
There’s clearly no appetite among the GOP’s party elders for another drawn-out leadership fight similar to the one that consumed the party in the fall of 2023, or the more than a dozen votes required to elect Kevin McCarthy as speaker at the beginning of that same year.
But that isn’t likely to stop the party’s rowdy and camera-ready rank and file members, who indicated to reporters on Wednesday that Speaker Mike Johnson had yet to consolidate the kind of support he would need to avert such a conflict in January.
Far-right House members suggest rebellion against Johnson could be on the horizon
Even with Trump’s backing of Mike Johnson, conservative grievances threaten to derail incoming GOP Congress
Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
Wow, much bull market.
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency whose mascot is a super-cute dog that muses things like “much wow,” has been surging in value since Donald Trump won the presidential election last week. It’s hitting the afterburners now, after Trump named Tesla‘s Elon Musk as one of the heads of a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” which is not a government agency but does have the acronym DOGE.
All this makes sense and is maybe humorous for anyone who’s chronically online. For others, here’s some explanation about what’s going on:
Bull doge! Dogecoin soars as Trump announces a government efficiency group nicknamed DOGE
Dogecoin is surging in value since Donald Trump won the presidential election
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments