Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla, has been tapped by President-Elect Donald Trump to be the next U.S. Attorney General.
The panhandle Republican and Trump loyalist serves on the House Judiciary Committee. He has been a frequent critic of the current Justice Department for bringing criminal charges against Trump.
In a post to Truth Social, Trump said Gaetz is the person needed to bring “desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
“Matt will root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its truest mission of fighting Crime, and upholding Democracy and our Constitution,” Trump wrote.
Gaetz acknowledged his tapping in an X post.
It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General! pic.twitter.com/dg0iQ0bA6Y
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 13, 2024
Minutes after the appointment was publicly announced, Florida politico and state Senator-elect Don Gaetz congratulated his son.
“What the Justice Department needs is someone who can go in, identify corruption, mismanagement, inefficiency and low performance and fix it. And that's something my son, Matt, is good at. I'm very proud of him, and I think he'll do a great job,” he said.
Gaetz’s is now the fourth Florida Republican to be tapped for a role in Trump’s administration, including U.S. Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz for National Security Advisor and Trump campaign manager Susie Wiles for Chief of Staff.
Chair of the Republican Party of Florida Evan Power said the appointments demonstrate Florida has become the conservative leader of the nation.
“I think that the saying has been, if you need a job done, you send a Florida man or woman,” he said.