Appointments
Most people agree that a President should be allowed wide latitude in selecting his team.
The general consensus also acknowledges that the nominees should through experience or qualifications be capable of handling their new roles and should put the needs of the citizens first.
Concerns have been raised that Trump has placed personal loyalty over competence in some of his nominations.
Keep in mind that a cabinet-level or major position is roughly the equivalent of being the CEO of a major corporation and requires exceptional management ability and strong strategic thinking skills.
More here on the Senate’s role in the Presidential Appointment process.
Here is a link to the Senate Nonimation Hearings.
https://www.senate.gov/committees/hearings_meetings.htm
Here is how individual Senators have voted.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/06/us/politics/cabinet-confirmation-votes.html
Here are some of Trump’s nominations who have have had questions raised regarding their qualifications.
Director of National Intelligence
Reports directly to the President.
Nominee – Rep (Hawaii) Tulsi Gabbard
Hearings: Thursday, January 30, 10:00 AM
More Info: https://ballotpedia.org/Tulsi_Gabbard
Confirmation vote: 52-48, with former Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) the only GOP opponent
CONFIRMED
Nominee – Rep (Hawaii) Tulsi Gabbard
Qualifications:
GABBARD, Tulsi, a Representative from Hawaii; born in Leloaloa, American Samoa, April 12, 1981; B.S.B.A., Hawaii Pacific University, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2009; member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, 2002-2004; Hawaii Army National Guard, 2003-2020; United States Army Reserve, 2020-present; staff, Senator Daniel Kahikina Akaka of Hawaii; member of the Honolulu, Hawaii, city council, 2010-2012; elected as a Democrat to the One Hundred Thirteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses (January 3, 2013-January 3, 2021); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in 2020, but was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000571
Concerns:
Trump has characterized the intelligence community as part of the “deep state,” his term for thousands of civil servants who work at a long list of government agencies and who Trump has never viewed as sufficiently loyal.
“If confirmed as director of national intelligence (DNI), Gabbard would be responsible for wrangling the information collected across all 18 intelligence agencies.”
“What is unusual here is you’ve got somebody who’s had such a long and vociferous track record of saying things that are factually incorrect, that seem to give aid and comfort to U.S. adversaries and that undermine the very people they should be representing at the principals committee,” said Jamil Jaffer, a former Republican House Intelligence Committee staffer and national security prosecutor.
“That’s what makes her an unlikely candidate to be nominated for this job, and to be an unlikely candidate to be confirmed to this job.”
Gabbard, has at various turns espoused pro-Russia talking points, writing as Ukraine was being invaded that President Biden failed to take into account “Russia’s legitimate security concerns” in trying to head off the war.
She also secretly met with Syrian leader Bashar Assad, who was accused of using chemical weapons on his own citizens during the country’s civil war. When she ran as a Democrat for president in the 2020 primary, she declined to label the Syrian leader and Russian ally a war criminal.
“Some of the statements she has made through the years that sound like they came right out of the Kremlin’s talking points paper are a little bit alarming. Her cozying up to Bashar al-Assad and being an apologist for him as well just raise questions in my mind. Is that really the best person to put in charge of this very complicated, very sensitive operation that is the U.S. intel community?” said Larry Pfeiffer, who previously served as senior director of the White House Situation Room and was chief of staff at the CIA under the George W. Bush administration.
SOURCE: https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/4991634-tulsi-gabbard-nominated-dni/
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This appointment will be screened by the Senate Committee on Intelligence
| Majority Members (11) | Minority Members (10) |
|---|---|
| Cotton, Tom (AR), Chairman Risch, James E. (ID) Collins, Susan M. (ME) Cornyn, John (TX) Moran, Jerry (KS) Lankford, James (OK) Rounds, Mike (SD) Young, Todd (IN) Rubio, Marco (FL) Thune, John (SD), Ex Officio Wicker, Roger F. (MS), Ex Officio |
Warner, Mark R. (VA), Vice Chairman Wyden, Ron (OR) Heinrich, Martin (NM) King, Angus S. (ME) Bennet, Michael F. (CO) Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (NY) Ossoff, Jon (GA) Kelly, Mark (AZ) Reed, Jack (RI), Ex Officio Schumer, Charles E. (NY), Ex Officio |
What does the Dir National Intelligence do?
The Director of National Intelligence serves as the head of the Intelligence Community, overseeing and directing the implementation of the National Intelligence Program budget and serving as the principal advisor to the President, the National Security Council, and the Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters related to national security.
Working together with the Principal Deputy DNI and with the assistance of Mission Managers and Deputy Directors, the Office of the DNI’s goal is to effectively integrate foreign, military and domestic intelligence in defense of the homeland and of United States interests abroad.
LEADING THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
The U.S. Intelligence Community is a coalition of 18 agencies and organizations, including the ODNI. The IC agencies fall within the Executive Branch and work both independently and collaboratively to gather and analyze the intelligence necessary to conduct foreign relations and national security activities.
SOURCE: https://www.dni.gov/index.php/what-we-do
Departments:
Department of Health and Human Services
Reports Directly to the President
Nominee Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
Hearings: Wednesday, January 29, 10:00 AM, Thursday, January 30, 10:00 AM
VIDEO:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZptVL7waEnE
VOTE: 52 to 48, McConnell (R) voting no.
CONFIRMED
Qualifications:
American environmental attorney, author, and activist
Concerns:
Some of Kennedy’s own stated aims for government are bound up with misinformation – and many medical experts have expressed serious concerns about his nomination, citing his views on vaccines and other health matters.
One of his main false claims – repeated in a 2023 interview with Fox News, was that “autism comes from vaccines”.
In his post on X, Kennedy said fluoride was “associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease”.
A vocal critic of restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19, Kennedy said at press event last year in a video posted by the New York Post that “Covid-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.”
Many of RFK, JR.s supporters cite his interest in healthy foods and reforming the food industry.
The question is – isn’t there another candidate better qualified to lead this charge without the baggage of RFK, Jr.’s false beliefs regarding health?
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This nomination will be screened by the Senate Committee on Finance.
Subcommittees (6)
Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure
Subcommittee on Fiscal Responsibility and Economic Growth
Subcommittee on Health Care
Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and Global Competitiveness
Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions, and Family Policy
Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight
| Majority Members (14) | Minority Members (13) |
|---|---|
| Crapo, Mike (ID), Chairman Grassley, Chuck (IA) Cornyn, John (TX) Thune, John (SD) Scott, Tim (SC) Cassidy, Bill (LA) Lankford, James (OK) Daines, Steve (MT) Young, Todd (IN) Barrasso, John (WY) Johnson, Ron (WI) Tillis, Thom (NC) Blackburn, Marsha (TN) Marshall, Roger (KS) |
Wyden, Ron (OR), Ranking Member Cantwell, Maria (WA) Bennet, Michael F. (CO) Warner, Mark R. (VA) Whitehouse, Sheldon (RI) Hassan, Margaret Wood (NH) Cortez Masto, Catherine (NV) Warren, Elizabeth (MA) Sanders, Bernard (VT) Smith, Tina (MN) Lujan, Ben Ray (NM) Warnock, Raphael G. (GA) Welch, Peter (VT) |
What does the Dept. of Health and Human Services Do?
The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans, by providing for effective health and human services and by fostering sound, sustained advances in the sciences underlying medicine, public health, and social services.
Source: https://www.hhs.gov/about/index.html
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a Cabinet-level government department that provides health and human services and promotes research in social services, medicine, and public health. The HHS achieves its goals through 12 agencies that manage more than 100 programs. The agencies include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Administration for Children and Families (ACF).
HHS Budget:
Secretary of Defense
Reports directly to the President.
Nominee – Pete Hegseth
Hearings- Tuesday, Jan 14, 2025 9:00 AM – SD-342
CONFIRMED: 50/50 vote with VP breaking tie.
VIDEO 7H/7M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH8cIpp5Dx4
Transcript: https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnr/date/2025-01-14/segment/25
More Info: https://ballotpedia.org/Pete_Hegseth
Confirmed
The Department of Defense is America’s largest government agency.
Qualifications:
Pete Hegseth is an author, a former contributor on Fox News, and a former officer of the National Guard. https://ballotpedia.org/Pete_Hegseth
Concerns:
The New Yorker detailed concerns about Hegseth’s drinking at two jobs he held at nonprofit veterans’ groups before he joined Fox. “A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity — to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events,” the magazine reported.
Last month, the Monterey, California, Police Department released records of a 2017 investigation into an accusation that Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman in a hotel room following a Republican women’s convention. The accuser, identified in the records as “Jane Doe,” said she believed someone may have slipped something into her drink.
Hegseth has denied any wrongdoing, and he was never charged.
Hegseth has also confirmed that he paid the woman an undisclosed settlement. Parlatore previously told NBC News that Hegseth “ultimately decided to enter into a settlement for a significantly reduced amount” at the “height of the MeToo movement.” Parlatore also said his client was “innocent collateral damage in a lie that the Complainant was holding onto to keep her marriage intact.”
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
His confirmation will include hearings with the Senate Armed Service Committee.
| Majority Members (14) | Minority Members (13) |
|---|---|
| Wicker, Roger F. (MS), Chairman Fischer, Deb (NE) Cotton, Tom (AR) Rounds, Mike (SD) Ernst, Joni (IA) Sullivan, Dan (AK) Cramer, Kevin (ND) Scott, Rick (FL) Tuberville, Tommy (AL) Mullin, Markwayne (OK) Budd, Ted (NC) Schmitt, Eric (MO) Banks, Jim (IN) Sheehy, Tim (MT) |
Reed, Jack (RI), Ranking Member Shaheen, Jeanne (NH) Gillibrand, Kirsten E. (NY) Blumenthal, Richard (CT) Hirono, Mazie K. (HI) Kaine, Tim (VA) King, Angus S. (ME) Warren, Elizabeth (MA) Peters, Gary C. (MI) Duckworth, Tammy (IL) Rosen, Jacky (NV) Kelly, Mark (AZ) Slotkin, Elissa (MI) |
What does the Defense Department do?
The Department of Defense is America’s largest government agency. Our mission is to provide the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation’s security.
Dept of Defense Budget?
FBI Director
Reports to the Attorney General at the Department of Justice
10-year term
Nominee– Kash Patel
Hearings: Thursday, January 30, 9:30 AM
TRANSCRIPT:
Confirmed
Qualifications:
Kash Patel has worked in the Department of Justice as a prosecutor, as a national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as a deputy assistant to the president on the National Security Council. In the final months of the first Trump administration, he served as chief of staff to the acting secretary of defense. Since then, Patel has been a frequent contributor on conservative media, including appearing on podcasts hosted by Steve Bannon and Sean Ryan.
Concerns:
Trump has repeatedly said that he would prosecute his opponents. The FBI is a key tool for doing so.
In his 2023 book, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for Our Democracy,” Patel lays out his case against what he refers to as “the deep state” — an amorphous term he says includes elected leaders, journalists, Big Tech tycoons and “members of the unelected bureaucracy” — calling for “a comprehensive housecleaning” of the Justice Department, which he claims has protected high-ranking members of the Democratic Party while unjustly targeting Republicans and their allies.
Trump has praised the book as a “blueprint to take back the White House and remove these Gangsters from all of Government,” according to promotional endorsements.
Patel has heavily criticized the FBI, and in a podcast interview in September, he called for the agency’s headquarters in Washington, DC, to be dismantled and turned into a “museum of the deep state.”
On the “Shawn Ryan Show,” criticizing the agency’s intelligence-gathering operation.amd also ridiculed the FBI for its 2022 search warrant of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, which led to charges being brought against the former president for retaining classified documents.
In a 2023 interview with Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser, Patel said the Justice Department under Trump would “come after” members of the media.
“We’ve got to put in all-American patriots top to bottom,” Patel said of the DOJ, adding that the department under Trump “will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government but in the media.”
When Trump, during his first term, reportedly considered making Patel deputy director of the FBI, former Attorney General Bill Barr wrote in his memoir that Patel “had virtually no experience that would qualify him to serve at the highest level of the world’s preeminent law enforcement agency,” adding that Patel would become the FBI’s No. 2 “over my dead body.” https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/02/politics/who-is-kash-patel-trump-fbi-director/index.html
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This Nomination will be screened by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Subcommittees (8)
Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights
Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism
Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights
Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law
Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety
Subcommittee on Intellectual Property
Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law
Subcommittee on the Constitution
| Majority Members (12) | Minority Members (10) |
|---|---|
| Grassley, Chuck (IA), Chairman Graham, Lindsey (SC) Cornyn, John (TX) Lee, Mike (UT) Cruz, Ted (TX) Hawley, Josh (MO) Tillis, Thom (NC) Kennedy, John (LA) Blackburn, Marsha (TN) Schmitt, Eric (MO) Britt, Katie Boyd (AL) Crapo, Mike (ID) |
Durbin, Richard J. (IL), Ranking Member Whitehouse, Sheldon (RI) Klobuchar, Amy (MN) Coons, Christopher A. (DE) Blumenthal, Richard (CT) Hirono, Mazie K. (HI) Booker, Cory A. (NJ) Padilla, Alex (CA) Welch, Peter (VT) Schiff, Adam B. (CA) |
What does the FBI Do?
The bureau has 37,000 employees in 55 U.S. field offices, 350 satellite offices, and 63 locations abroad that cover nearly 200 countries.
FBI Budget:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 budget request proposes a total of $11,386,015,000 ($11,4 Billion) in direct budget authority,
$11,324,120,000 is for Salaries and Expenses (S&E) and
$61,895,000 is for Construction.
The S&E request includes a total of 37,312 direct positions and 36,131 direct fulltime equivalents (FTE); the positions include:
13,662 Special Agents (SAs)
3,215 Intelligence Analysts (IAs)
20,435 Professional Staff (PS)
Department of Homeland Security
Reports directly to the President
Nominee- Kristie Noem
Hearings – Friday, Jan 17, 2025 -9:00 AM – SD-342
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5steknfDDhI
More Info: https://ballotpedia.org/Kristi_Noem
Confirmed: Jan 25, 2025
Confirmed
Qualifications:
Noem was born in Watertown, South Dakota. She attended Northern State University in Aberdeen and left school to run the family farm and ranch after her father died in a farming accident. While serving in Congress, Noem returned to school, receiving a B.A. in political science from South Dakota State University in 2011.
Before her election to the U.S. House, Noem was a member of the South Dakota House of Representatives. https://ballotpedia.org/Kristi_Noem
Concerns:
Elizabeth Neumann, who was assistant Homeland Security secretary in Trump’s first White House tenure, as well as serving in the department under George W. Bush, told CNN host Kaitlan Collins that it is “concerning” that the department doesn’t have the kind of leader it deserves.
“It’s a little concerning for the agency itself that you have somebody coming in that really knows nothing about Homeland Security and hasn’t had that much experience actually—I know she’s the governor of a state, but it’s a relatively small state—hasn’t been in office that long,” Neumann said. “So I’m a little concerned for the agency itself that they don’t have the kind of leader that they deserve.” https://www.newsweek.com/kristi-noem-knows-nothing-homeland-security-ex-trump-official-1986824
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This nomination is screened by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security
Total Members: 15
Subcommittees (3)
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Spending Oversight
Subcommittee on Government Operations and Border Management
| Majority Members (8) | Minority Members (7) |
|---|---|
| Paul, Rand (KY), Chairman Johnson, Ron (WI) Lankford, James (OK) Scott, Rick (FL) Hawley, Josh (MO) Moreno, Bernie (OH) Ernst, Joni (IA) Scott, Tim (SC) |
Peters, Gary C. (MI), Ranking Member Hassan, Margaret Wood (NH) Blumenthal, Richard (CT) Fetterman, John (PA) Kim, Andy (NJ) Gallego, Ruben (AZ) Slotkin, Elissa (MI) |
What does the Department of Homeland Security Do?
The Department of Homeland Security has a vital mission: to secure the nation from the many threats we face. This requires the hard work of more than 260,000 employees in jobs that range from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector. Our duties are wide-ranging, and our goal is clear – keeping America safe.
SOURCE: https://www.dhs.gov/about-dhs
Major Divisions include:
Homeland Security Budget:
Department of Energy
Reports directly to the President
Nominee- Chris Wright
Hearings- Wednesday, Jan 15, 2025 10:00 AM – SD-366
Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yW2JVdkTTw
More Info: https://ballotped ia.org/ Confirmation_process or_Chris_Wright_for_secretary_of_energy
Confirmed
Qualifications:
Wright grew up in Colorado. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and did graduate work in electrical engineering at both MIT and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1992, Wright founded Pinnacle Technologies, a fracking company, and was the chairman of Stroud Energy, a shale gas production company.[2] In 2010, Wright founded Liberty Energy, a company that provides services and technology to other companies in the oil and gas industry. https://ballotpedia.org/Chris_Wright_(secretary_of_energy_nominee)
Concerns:
Various media reports have alleged that Wright will use his DOE position to promote fossil fuels and reverse many of the decarbonization initiatives set in place during the Biden administration. Such reports make note of Wright’s previous statements expressing doubts about the seriousness of climate change. Last year, for example, Wright posted a video on his LinkedIn page in which he said, “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either. . . . The only thing resembling a crisis with respect to climate change is the regressive, opportunity-squelching policies justified in the name of climate change.”
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This appointment is screened by the Senate Committee on Energy and National Resources.
Total Members: 19
Subcommittees (4)
Subcommittee on Energy
Subcommittee on National Parks
Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
Subcommittee on Water and Power
| Majority Members (10) | Minority Members (9) |
|---|---|
| Lee, Mike (UT), Chairman Barrasso, John (WY) Risch, James E. (ID) Daines, Steve (MT) Cotton, Tom (AR) McCormick, David (PA) Cassidy, Bill (LA) Hyde-Smith, Cindy (MS) Murkowski, Lisa (AK) Hoeven, John (ND) |
Heinrich, Martin (NM), Ranking Member Wyden, Ron (OR) Cantwell, Maria (WA) Hirono, Mazie K. (HI) King, Angus S. (ME) Cortez Masto, Catherine (NV) Hickenlooper, John W. (CO) Padilla, Alex (CA) Gallego, Ruben (AZ) |
What does the Department of Energy Do?
The mission of the Energy Department is to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy, environmental, and nuclear challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.
This Department is tasked with maintaining a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent and reducing the threat of nuclear proliferation, overseeing the United States’ energy supply, carrying out the environmental clean-up from the Cold War nuclear mission, and the 17 National Laboratories.
Budget:
Department of Education
Reports directly to the President
Nominee – Linda McMahon
Hearings:
More Info: https://ballotpedia.org/Linda_McMahon
Qualifications:
McMahon, a billionaire and wrestling executive who graduated from East Carolina University in 1969, has a bachelor’s degree in French. She’s the former head of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the policy nerve center for MAGA governance.
Concerns:
She chaired America First Action, a super PAC that backed Trump’s reelection campaign in 2020. McMahon helped start the America First Policy Institute to continue advocating for Trump’s agenda and prepare for a potential return to the White House.
When Trump ran for president this year, McMahon was the co-chair of his transition team along with Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald. As part of that role, McMahon has been helping to plan Trump’s new administration.
Once he takes office, perhaps McMahon’s biggest task will be to eliminate the agency she was hired to oversee. Trump has promised to close the Education Department and return much of its powers to states. https://apnews.com/article/linda-mcmahon-trump-education-secretary-wwe-613016d0c164b89765af761404cbb123
ACTION: Contact your Senators and members of the review committee to express your support or opposition to this nomination.
This nominee will be screened by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Total Members: 23
Subcommittees (3)
Subcommittee on Children and Families
Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security
| Majority Members (12) | Minority Members (11) |
|---|---|
| Cassidy, Bill (LA), Chairman Paul, Rand (KY) Collins, Susan M. (ME) Murkowski, Lisa (AK) Mullin, Markwayne (OK) Marshall, Roger (KS) Scott, Tim (SC) Hawley, Josh (MO) Tuberville, Tommy (AL) Banks, Jim (IN) Crapo, Mike (ID) Blackburn, Marsha (TN) |
Sanders, Bernard (VT), Ranking Member Murray, Patty (WA) Baldwin, Tammy (WI) Murphy, Christopher (CT) Kaine, Tim (VA) Hassan, Margaret Wood (NH) Hickenlooper, John W. (CO) Markey, Edward J. (MA) Kim, Andy (NJ) Blunt Rochester, Lisa (DE) Alsobrooks, Angela D. (MD) |
What does the Dept. of Education do?
ED’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
- Strengthen the Federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual;
- Supplement and complement the efforts of states, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the states, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education;
- Encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs;
- Promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information;
- Improve the coordination of Federal education programs;
- Improve the management of Federal education activities; and
- Increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress, and the public.
What is its budget?
For the fiscal year 2025 Budget requests $82.4 billion in discretionary funding for the Department of
Education, including a change in mandatory program (CHIMP) and rescissions.
Attorney General
Reports directly to the President
Nominee former Rep. Matt Gaetz Withdrawn
Qualifications:
GAETZ, Matthew L., II, a Representative from Florida; born in Hollywood, Broward County, Fla., May 7, 1982; graduated from Niceville High School, Niceville, Fla., 2000; B.S., Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., 2003; J.D., William & Mary Law School, Williamsburg, VA, 2007; lawyer, private practice; member of the Florida state house of representatives, 2010-2016; elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Fifteenth and to the three succeeding Congresses until his resignation on November 13, 2024 (January 3, 2017-November 13, 2024); reelected to the One Hundred Nineteenth Congress, but declined his seat. https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/G000578
Concerns:
Matt Gaetz resigned from the House a few days before a scathing House Ethics report was released accusing him of paying tens of thousands of dollars to women for sex or drugs on at least 20 occasions.
He also promoted the belief that the justice department has been weaponized against former President Trump.
“We ought to have a full court press against this WEAPONIZED government that has been turned against our people,” Gaetz said. “And if that means ABOLISHING every one of the three letter agencies, from the FBI to the ATF, I’m ready to get going!” -Matt Gaetz
Gaetz resigned from the senate days before a report was to be released accusing him of several drug and sexual offenses.
What does the Attorney General do?
The principal duties of the Attorney General are to:
- Represent the United States in legal matters.
- Supervise and direct the administration and operation of the Department of Justice, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Bureau of Prisons, Office of Justice Programs and the U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals Service, which are all within the Department of Justice.
https://www.justice.gov/doj/organization-mission-and-functions-manual-office-attorney-general
The Justice Department is generally considered an independent agency that represents the needs of US citizens and does not serve as the President’s personal attorney. A key power of this department is its authority to investigate and prosecute.
BUDGET: For FY 2025, the United States Attorneys request $2,826,433,000 and 11,591 positions, of which 6,255 are attorneys. The budget request contains a program increase of 50 positions, including
50 attorneys and $9,000,000 to support violent crime prosecutions.
