CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are reacting to the decision of a top nominee from President-elect Donald Trump backing out, but they also say they are not under heavy pressure to toe the party line.
This happens to almost any new president. They put forth at least one controversial nominee, and there is pressure for that person to drop out.
Former Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be the next U.S. attorney general. According to Nexstar’s Washington, D.C. Bureau, Gaetz chose to withdraw following scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation and as the House Ethics Committee discusses whether to release its report on Gaetz. He has, however, denied those claims.
Gaetz said in a statement he did not want to become a “distraction” to Trump’s transition back into the White House.
West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R) says that’s probably a correct assessment. But there are reports in the Nation’s Capital, that Republican senators are being pressured to support the rest of Trump’s nominees, or they will face primary opponents backed by Trump. Senator Capito says she’s heard nothing like that.
“If you are asking me ‘Have I received that message, and has it been delivered to my office,’ the answer is an unequivocal, ‘No!’ I don’t feel intimidated. I feel like the president expects me to do my job. He expects me to be fair,” said Capito.
Capito says the Senate has a constitutional duty to “advise and consent” on all presidential appointments.
As for any other cabinet or judicial appointments, Senator Capito says she will give all of them fair consideration before she votes.
On Thursday evening, it was announced that Trump has now chosen former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi as his next pick for U.S. attorney general.
