President-elect Donald TrumpElection of the Republic. Matt Gaetz his future attorney general has sent many Justice Department officials into a state of shock after what has already been a tumultuous eight days since the election.
The department’s approximately 110,000 employees, who spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity, described a climate of fear as Gaetz took over the helm of the nation’s top law enforcement agency.
The Florida congressman, who has been uncritical of the DOJ, the federal department he heads recently investigated criminal sex trafficking.
The US Attorney General is appointed by the President, but confirmed by the Senate.
President-elect Donald Trump and Rep. Matt Gaetz.
AFP via Getty Images
“This can’t be real,” a Justice Department official told ABC News on Wednesday.
“Mass resignation if he takes the oath,” another official added.
Others expressed doubts that Gaetz would ultimately succeed in receiving Senate confirmation, based on the initial wave of backlash on Capitol Hill.
An official who spoke to ABC News, however, said they were concerned that Gaetz’s nomination could ultimately be part of a broader effort to secure the confirmation of someone else who was previously less favorable.
An important debate going on in the minds of many career officials right now is whether to continue at the Justice Department for the second Trump administration.
Trump has spoken about using the agency as a tool of retribution against his enemies. Some federal prosecutors fear that Trump’s direction could upend important institutional rules that have governed the DOJ’s work since the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.
Fears about Trump’s use of the DOJ come amid recent warnings from a top Trump transition adviser, attorney Mark Paoletta.
Paoletta took to her X account to warn that career officials who “resist” Trump’s appointment demands will be swiftly punished and fired.
“I look forward to the DOJ lawyers taking responsibility for implementing President Trump’s agenda.” Paoletta wrote on Wednesday, adding “that is their constitutional duty”.
Current Attorney General Merrick Garland has yet to comment publicly on Trump’s selection of Gaetz.
