Gaetz resigned from Congress under the cloud of an ethics investigation after being tapped for attorney general.
Former vice president Mike Pence’s political organization is celebrating Donald Trump’s hawkish national-security picks but has yet to weigh in on the president-elect’s most controversial picks, Matt Gaetz for attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence.
Advancing American Freedom is throwing its weight behind Trump’s choices for secretary of state, secretary of defense, CIA director, national security adviser, and border czar, according to a memo obtained by National Review.
“President Trump and his transition team have knocked it out of the park with their initial selections. Rubio, Hegseth, Ratcliffe, Waltz, and Homan are common-sense, national security conservatives who the American people can trust to put America first on the world stage, take on China, and secure the Southern Border,” the memo reads.
Earlier this week, Pence praised Trump’s national-security picks up to that point during a summit held by The Dispatch, a center-right news outlet.
“Marco Rubio, I think is an outstanding choice for Secretary of State, Tom Homan, as the border czar, Michael Waltz as a National Security Advisor…these are all conservative men and women who I believe will serve the country well, serve the president-elect well,” Pence said.
Pence’s relationship with his old running mate soured after he refused to go along with Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Since then, Pence has criticized Trump for tacking to the center on abortion and flip-flopping on whether or not to force TikTok’s Chinese parent company to divest from the social-media platform. Pence did not endorsed Trump this presidential cycle.
Asked fora reaction to the appointment of Gaetz, who resigned from Congress Wednesday under the cloud of a House Ethics Committee investigation, AAF declined to comment. The Ethics Committee was reportedly planning to release a damning report on its investigation — which focused on allegations that Gaetz had sexual relations with underage girls, among other things — on Friday, but will now withhold it given that Gaetz is no longer a member of Congress. Should Gaetz’s appointment proceed to the confirmation stage, the contents of the report will almost surely be surfaced during the vetting process.
AAF also declined to comment on the appointment of Gabbard, whose foreign-policy views, particularly on the Ukraine-Russia war, stand in sharp contrast to those of Pence.
Trump officially announced Wednesday that Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) is his secretary of state pick for the incoming administration. Rubio is likely to sail through Senate confirmation
On Tuesday, Trump picked Hegseth, a Fox News host, to be Secretary of Defense. Hegseth is a decorated 20-year combat veteran with two Ivy League degrees and a longstanding interest in veterans’ policy.
Waltz, a congressman from Florida’s sixth district, is another decorated military veteran and a proponent of an aggressive American foreign policy. Trump announced Tuesday afternoon that Waltz will be his national security adviser after his pick was widely reported.
Trump also picked John Ratcliffe Tuesday to run the CIA, an unsurprising selection given Ratcliffe’s experience as director of national intelligence at the end of Trump’s first term. Ratcliffe was previously a congressman in Texas’s fourth district and specialized in national-security issues.
A couple days earlier, Trump tapped Homan to be the next administration’s border czar to fulfill Trump’s promise of mass deportations for illegal immigrants. Homan is the former acting director of immigration and customs enforcement, and a staunch proponent of curtailing illegal immigration.
Homan will be working closely with South Dakota governor Kristi Noem (R), Trump’s choice to run the Department of Homeland Security. AAF also left Noem out of its memo.