On today’s edition of The Editors, Rich, Charlie, MBD, and Dominic discuss Matt Gaetz’s short-lived AG nomination.

Michael was never too worried by this prospect, saying, “I have to confess that . . . when Donald Trump announced the surprise nomination, Matt Gaetz for attorney general, I just instantly thought, ‘That’s never gonna happen,’ and I found myself underinvested in the drama of it not happening. It’s sort of like, ‘Okay water’s wet. Things that you drop off a building fall to earth. Matt Gaetz is not going to be attorney general.’”

Dominic agrees: “I think this was obvious from the start that this wasn’t going to work. Not only is he inexperienced and unqualified for the job of attorney general, but he’s personally disliked by basically everyone else in Congress. So even from a very sort of narrow personal political point of view, this was going to be basically impossible for him to get passed.”

Charlie points out that “this is the key point that the Trump acolytes are missing: that within reason, it’s not infinite, but within reason, the Senate blocking the worst among Trump’s nominees is good for Trump. There is, you can imagine, a scenario in which the Republican Party is truly divided and the Senate is the home to one wing and the presidency is the home to another wing. But that’s not the case here.”

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.