President-elect Donald Trump has announced controversial Republican congressman Matt Gaetz to serve as his attorney general.
The Trump loyalist is one of the more universally disliked members of Congress, including among GOP lawmakers after he led the effort to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year.
He has spent his congressional career agitating against the Justice Department and has been under a House Ethics investigation probing whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct. Gaetz has strenuously denied all the allegations.
The Florida politician was picked as the country's top law enforcement official after he “has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice,” Trump said in a statement on Wednesday.
He said Gaetz would "root out the systemic corruption at DOJ, and return the Department to its true mission of fighting Crime, and upholding our Democracy and Constitution."
“It will be an honor to serve as President Trump’s Attorney General!” Gaetz wrote on X.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Wednesday night that Gaetz has already handed him a resignation letter, “effective immediately.”
The Harris-Walz campaign has sent a statement to supporters criticising the appointment, which is set be confirmed by the Senate on Friday.
"Donald Trump is making good on his promise to install loyalists who will do his bidding and that starts with nominating Matt Gaetz to be Attorney General," the email read.
"They will weaponize the [Department of Justice] to protect themselves and their allies and we must stop them from executing Trump's plans for revenge and retribution."
Veteran Democratic senator Chris Murphy declared the announcement to be "a red alert moment for our democracy".
Gaetz’s nomination came as Trump continued putting together his top team with former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard named as his director of national intelligence.
She is a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate Trump has also nominated Marco Rubio as his Secretary of State - America’s top diploma.
The choices continued a pattern of Trump stocking his Cabinet with those he believes he can trust to execute his agenda rather than longtime officials with experience in their fields. Gaetz was not among the more established attorneys who had been mentioned as contenders for the attorney gerneral job, and even his colleagues in Congress appeared stunned by the news.
"Everybody was saying, `Oh my God,'" said Republican Rep. Mike Simpson of Idaho. "That was about as big a surprise as I've had in a long time.”
The nominations came after telling Joe Biden in a White House meeting: “Politics is tough.”
Trump met the outgoing president for the first time since his election win last week over Kamala Harris in the US presidential election.
The pair met in the Oval Office as they discussed plans to transition power.
Trump and Mr Biden shook hands and exchanged small talk in the Oval Office while also discussing plans to secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the White House said
“Thank you very much," Mr Trump told Mr Biden. “Politics is tough. And it's, in many cases, not a very nice world. But it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much."
He said the transition between the outgoing and incoming administrations "will be as smooth as it can get and I very much appreciate that, Joe".
Rubio, 53, is a noted foreign policy “hawk” - someone who takes hard-line positions - towards Iran and China, and has previously said Israel has “no choice but to seek the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza.”
Nominating the Florida Senator Rubio for the role as Secretary of State, Mr Trump said: “Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.”
Rubio, 53, is a foreign policy ‘hawk’ with hardline positions towards Iran and China.
Mr Rubio has previously said Israel has “no choice but to seek the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza.”
Nominating the Florida Senator Rubio for the role, Mr Trump said: “Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries.”
Rubio wrote on X: “Leading the US Department of State is a tremendous responsibility and I am honored by the trust President Trump has placed in me.
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else.
Rubio and Trump were opponents in the race for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and the two developed a bitter rivalry, with Trump referring to the senator as “little Marco” and Rubio mocking Trump’s “small hands”.
But Rubio went on to endorse his rival and campaigned for him ahead of the 2024 election.
While supportive of Ukraine, he previously said the country’s war with Russia needed to “be brought to a conclusion”.
It comes as projections predicted Republicans have won the majority of seats in the US House, giving Trump control of both houses of Congress and the presidency when he assumes office in January.
Trump will also be backed by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court with a 6-3 rightward majority, including three justices he appointed when previously in office.
Trump brought “a detailed set of questions” to the meeting with Mr Biden, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
Ms Jean-Pierre said the meeting was “indeed, very cordial, very gracious, and substantive.”
She told media: “I think by the length of the meeting, (that) tells you that they had an in-depth conversation on an array of issues.”
She added that Mr Biden “is always going to, obviously, keep that line of communication open to the president-elect.”
Vice President Kamala Harris did not attend the meeting after her election loss.
The cordial meeting was a sharp contrast to the criticism the two men have hurled at each other for years.
Biden, 81, portrayed Trump as a threat to democracy, but his rival branded him “sleepy Joe”, and claimed that he and Kamala Harris were responsible for failing on two key issues for voters - the cost of living and immigration.
Trump's motorcade rolled through the heavily guarded White House gate on Wednesday as he was greeted by Mr Biden, who defeated him in the 2020 election.
Biden initially ran against Trump in the 2024 election before stepping aside and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
Although Mr Biden intended to use the meeting to show continuity, the transition itself is partially stalled.
Trump’s team, which has already announced some members of the incoming president's cabinet, has yet to sign agreements that would lead to office space and government equipment, according to the White House.
“Trump-Vance transition lawyers continue to constructively engage with the Biden-Harris Administration lawyers regarding all agreements contemplated by the Presidential Transition Act," said Brian Vance, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, referring to the law that governs the transfer of power.
Although the White House declined to give details, it is thought the two men discussed foreign policy - including both the Israel-Gaza conflict, and the Ukraine conflict.
Mr Biden's poor performance then heightened concerns about his age among fellow Democrats and led to his departure from the US presidential race.
Ms Harris became the Democratic nominee instead, running a short campaign that ended in her loss.
