Matt Gaetz becomes Trump’s sacrificial lamb
By Tiana Lowe Doescher
November 13, 2024 4:39 pmPresident-elect Donald Trump‘s early Cabinet appointments have ranged from the obvious (brilliant House Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) as ambassador to the United Nations) to the inspired (Fox News’s Pete Hegseth as defense secretary) to the aggravating (Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) as homeland security secretary). But the former and future president’s announcement that he is nominating Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general is Trump’s first pick that obviously, and intentionally, is dead on arrival.
Although Trump will reenter the White House with Republican control of both chambers of Congress, the Senate’s four-seat margin of control, with Vice President-elect J.D. Vance comprising the swing vote for Trump, includes at least two vulnerable Republicans up for dicey reelections in 2026: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) of the ultra-liberal Maine and Thom Tillis (R-NC) of the swing state of North Carolina. The margin also includes Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who both brand themselves as more heterodox or independent Republicans.
Perhaps Trump just wants Gaetz as the Justice Department’s top dog, but just as likely are the odds that he is intentionally making the Florida firebrand his fall guy. As a sacrificial lamb, Gaetz’s nomination may be very well intended to fail to give the centrist wing of the party cover when political opponents try to accuse them of rubber-stamping all of Trump’s appointments.
<..snip..>
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/3229181/matt-gaetz-trump-sacrificial-lamb/
