Trump privately admits Gaetz has little chance of Senate confirmation

In private conversations with allies, President-elect Donald Trump admitted that his nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, is not very likely to be confirmed by the Senate.

Specifically, Trump has said privately that the former Republican congressman resigned days ago from his House seat and has only a 50% chance of being confirmed in the Senate.

According to the New York Times, even though the president-elect believes his nomination has little chance of passing in the Senate, Trump is still making calls to push Gaetz's and other potentially tricky nominations.

Gaetz, who is viewed with reluctance by a section of the Republican Party after pushing for impeaching former House speaker Kevin McCarthy, has some personal scandals on top of him that could play against his nomination. For example, the nominee was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. However, after resigning his seat, the committee was left without jurisdiction and now faces pressure to release the report on Gaetz even though he resigned from Congress.

According to the NYT, despite this situation, Trump has shown no signs of withdrawing the nomination and is confident that Gaetz, if not confirmed, will at least lower the bar for his other nominations to pass.

Some other nominations that have had a negative impact on Washington and the political establishment include Pete Hegseth, who was chosen to head the Department of Defense; Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services; and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick for the director of National Intelligence.

Each of them has a complicated case to make before a Senate that, while a slim Republican majority, could be filled with establishment soldiers who view Trump's "aggressive" nominations with suspicion.

For various analysts, Trump is running a historic nomination campaign that features a mix of resonant and challenging names and respected. These long-standing politicians could easily be ratified in the Senate.

The NYT, for example, notes that Trump is pushing the Washington, D.C., establishment to the limit, gauging how far he is allowed to go with his nominations.

"Now, as Mr. Trump prepares to take office for the second time, he is demonstrating how confident he is that the branches of government will bend even further to accommodate him," the NYT reads. "He plans to test just how far he can go."