Who will Trump pick next for attorney general after Gaetz's withdrawal?
Matt Gaetz, the former Florida representative and President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, announced Thursday that he is withdrawing as Trump's pick for the top prosecutor.
Who is in consideration now for the top spot? Here are potential names floated to head the Department of Justice next.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey was tapped by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson in 2022 to be the state’s top prosecutor after then-state Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate.
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Bailey, an Army veteran, received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri. He then proceeded to work in the state attorney general’s office and also served as an assistant county prosecutor and a state government lawyer before joining the office of Gov. Mike Parson.
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Parson tapped Bailey in 2022 to be the state’s top prosecutor after then-state Attorney General Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate.
Since becoming attorney general, Bailey has launched dozens of lawsuits against the Biden administration and sought to defend the state on a number of conservative issues.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee from Utah is also a name being floated for consideration. Lee is currently a high-ranking Republican in the chamber and would face a somewhat easy path to Senate confirmation, at least compared to some of the more controversial names that have surfaced previously.
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Lee had previously expressed that he would not be aiming for the role, telling the Deseret News in an interview, "I have the job I want."
Lee also told the outlet at the time that he was looking "forward to working in the next Congress and with President Trump and his team to implement his agenda and the reform agenda that Republicans have offered and campaigned on, and it’s going to be an exciting time. We’ve got a lot of work to do."
Former White House attorney Mark Paoletta served during Trump’s first term as counsel to then-Vice President Mike Pence and to the Office of Management and Budget.
Paoletta is currently working on the Trump transition team, including helping steer Justice Department policy in the next Trump administration, making him a potentially natural fit for the role.
He made clear previously that if tapped to head up the Justice Department, he would not tolerate any resistance to Trump’s agenda by career prosecutors and other nonpolitical officials.
However, Paoletta wrote on X several weeks ago that he had not met with Trump at that time and had not interviewed for the AG position.
Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi is also being floated as a possible name to head the DOJ. Fox News is told Bondi would be interested in the position.
A Florida native, Bondi earned her law degree from Stetson Law School and worked as a prosecutor for more than 18 years.
She currently serves as the chair of the Center for Litigation, and co-chair of the Center for Law and Justice at America First Policy Institute.
Gaetz announced his decision to withdraw on X early Thursday afternoon. In his post, he described his nomination as "a distraction." Allegations of him purportedly paying underage women for sex had surfaced amid his nomination.
Trump took to social media shortly after the news broke that Gaetz would be withdrawing his name from consideration, writing on Truth Social, "I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the Administration, for which he has much respect. Matt has a wonderful future, and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do!"
Gaetz had been under a monthslong investigation by the House Ethics Committee until his resignation last Wednesday from the current congressional session.
Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Lee, Bailey, Paoletta and the Trump transition team for comment.
Fox News Digital's Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.