Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Vice President-elect JD Vance arrived at the Capitol on Wednesday morning to meet with Republican senators who could make or break Gaetz’s nomination to serve as the nation’s next attorney general.
Gaetz and Vance arrived on the East Front of the Capitol shortly after 9 a.m. and were spotted walking into the Senate’s carriage entrance with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), whom Trump will nominate to serve as secretary of State.
Republican senators say Vance is serving as the main liaison between the Trump-Vance transition team and GOP senators, who will be in the majority next year.
“JD Vance is doing a lot of” the outreach “on the Senate side,” said one GOP senator, who requested anonymity to discuss the behind-the-scenes lobbying effort. “I think he’s worked through the whole Judiciary Committee. He’s calling folks, trying to get a sense of where things are.”
Gaetz faces the toughest path to confirmation of Trump’s Cabinet picks, senators say.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) told The Hill last week that he has an “uphill climb” to securing support from a majority of senators.
Gaetz was previously embroiled in a sex trafficking investigation by the Justice Department, and the House Ethics Committee investigated him for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
The Ethics panel’s report on Gaetz hasn’t been released to the public, and several senators in both parties say they want to have access to its details before voting on Gaetz next year.
