New York Republican after Gaetz drops AG bid: ‘Justice has been served’

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) used a meme including a well-known foe in Matt Gaetz to respond to the former Florida lawmakers ‘s withdrawal from consideration as attorney general in the next administration.

“Justice has been served,” Lawler said in a post on the social platform X that also featured a photo of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) with bright-red laser eyes.

Gaetz led the effort to oust McCarthy from the Speakership last year, capping off a long-standing feud between them. The former Speaker resigned from the House in December and has said Gaetz only wanted to remove him over an ethics complaint.



McCarthy predicted last week that Gaetz would not get confirmed by the Senate.

Gaetz has historically been a strong supporter of President-elect Trump, but has not always received a warm reception from members of his own party.

Lawler has criticized Gaetz over McCarthy’s ouster before.

“In October, the House was thrown into chaos by Matt Gaetz and seven useful idiots that teamed up with him within the Republican Conference and 208 Democrats,” Lawler said in April.

Gaetz had been the subject of a probe by the House Ethics Committee looking into whether he took part in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, alongside other allegations. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing, but Gaetz’s recent resignation from Congress essentially kills the probe by taking himself out of the panel’s jurisdiction.

In his own Thursday post on X, Gaetz said he had “excellent meetings” with senators the day before, but “it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition.”

“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General,” Gaetz said.

The Hill has reached out to a contact for Gaetz and the Trump transition team for comment.

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