Barely a week after he was announced as president-elect, Donald Trump’s choice for U.S. attorney general, MAGA firebrand Matt Gaetz has withdrawn himself from contention for the post. Officially, Gaetz said on X (formerly Twitter) that his “confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.” Unofficially, the New York Times reported that the votes in the Senate simply were not there: Republicans are set to hold a 53–47 Senate majority come January, but there were at least four implacable “no” votes from Republicans. Interestingly, one of the widely reported “no” votes, apparently, was outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, an inveterate MAGA foe.
