With Gabbard, Gaetz and Hegseth, Trump dares Senate GOP to defy him

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With Gabbard, Gaetz and Hegseth, Trump dares Senate GOP to defy him

The president-elect’s nominees stunned Capitol Hill and even some of his advisers, setting up uphill confirmation battles.


Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), center left, takes a selfie with President Donald Trump following his State of the Union address on Jan. 30, 2018. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

By Isaac Arnsdorf and Josh Dawsey
November 13, 2024 at 8:03 p.m. EST

Donald Trump named Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), a fierce ally and a divisive figure who was investigated for sex trafficking but not criminally charged, as his pick for attorney general, the nation’s top law enforcement job, on Wednesday.

Minutes earlier, the president-elect had announced that he would tap former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, who has no direct experience in intelligence, as his director of national intelligence.

Gabbard and Gaetz join Trump’s pick to lead the Pentagon, Pete Hegseth, a Fox News weekend co-host who lobbied Trump to pardon military service members accused of war crimes, as choices who would be certain to face near universal opposition from Democrats and have some Republicans expressing concern.

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Joseph Menn, Liz Goodwin, Marianna Sotomayor, Isaac Stanley-Becker, Paul Kane and Meryl Kornfield contributed to this report.

By Isaac Arnsdorf
Isaac Arnsdorf is a national political reporter covering the Trump campaign. His first book, "Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy," was published in 2024.follow on X iarnsdorf

By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal.follow on X @jdawsey1