A progressive’s plea: Confirm Matt Gaetz.
Today’s editorial pages are full of warnings about Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump’s shocking nominee to be the next attorney general. He’s toxic. He’s unqualified. He’s an alleged sexual predator, they fume. Don’t confirm him.
As a yellow-dog Democrat and confirmed liberal, I respectfully and strongly disagree. The Senate should not only confirm Matt Gaetz as attorney general. It should also confirm Trump’s three other most controversial nominees: former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of National Intelligence; Fox News host Pete Hegseth as secretary of Defense; and Robert Kennedy, Jr., as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Why? For starters, I agree with Joe Biden on the sanctity of the electoral process. That means two things. First, when it’s all over, the loser concedes, and the winner takes office. Of course, Donald Trump’s never agreed to that first rule of elections, but he agrees with the second. Which is this: The winner gets to pick whomever he wants to serve in his administration. We may not like his choices, but elections have consequences, and that’s one of them.
But there’s a more important reason why Gaetz and company, no matter how crazy, should be confirmed. Because that’s what the American people voted for. They knew what they were getting in Donald Trump: A second term built on revenge against his political opponents, carried out by sycophants who are loyal to nobody or nothing but him. That’s what he promised. That’s what they wanted. That’s what they got. Who are we to stand in their way?
Is Gaetz qualified for the job? No way. He practiced law for all of two years. He accomplished nothing in Congress except leading a mutiny against then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) last year. He was under investigation by the House for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old girl one day and nominated attorney general the next. His stated goal is to weaponize the Justice Department against Trump’s political enemies and “deep state” employees at the Department of Justice.
John Bolton — who was, remember, Donald Trump’s national security adviser — called Gaetz the worst Cabinet appointment “in American history.” The National Review, the conservative bible, slammed his nomination as “terrible” and “foolish.”
Gabbard, Hegseth and Kennedy aren’t qualified, either. Gabbard’s never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee. Two years ago, she was accused by Republican lawmakers, including then-Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) and then-Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah), of spreading Russian propaganda.
Pete Hegseth has no senior military or national security experience. Accused of sexual assault at a Republican Party conference in California in 2017, Hegseth denied the claim, yet still paid his accuser a financial settlement. Kennedy has no formal scientific or medical credentials, other than his self-described role as “poster child for the anti-vax movement.”
Will they create chaos? Absolutely. Under Gaetz, the FBI will be gutted. Those who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 will be released from prison. Under Gabbard, our allies will no longer share intelligence with the U.S., making us more vulnerable to foreign and domestic attacks. Under Hegseth, the Pentagon’s top generals will be sent packing and troops will be patrolling American cities. Under Kennedy, the world’s best scientists and doctors will be fired and, without vaccines, we could well face a deadly measles outbreak.
Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be painful and people are going to get hurt. But that’s no reason to reject Gaetz and company. Again, this is what the American people wanted: sheer chaos. So bring it on, and the uglier, the better.
Then let the reckoning begin in 2026.
Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”