Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Sunday that his “bias would be to vote for the people that President Trump wants” for the upcoming administration.
“My bias would be to vote for the people that President Trump wants to serve [by in his] administration,” Johnson told NewsNation’s Chris Stirewalt on “The Hill Sunday.” “Again, as a U.S. senator, I’m probably the minority view here; I don’t particularly like being the human resource department of administration.”
“Again, the top picks, lifetime appointments, I have no problem with that, but you start getting down to … the lesser agencies here, or positions, it’s really ridiculous what we do,” Johnson continued, adding that he’d “much rather spend time on oversight and investigations.”
President-elect Trump has selected a few controversial people for roles in his incoming administration, including right-wing firebrand and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general. While Gaetz had been a strong supporter of the president-elect during his time in Congress, he also had some rough relationships within his party, notably having an ongoing public feud with ex-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Gaetz will most likely have to earn votes in the upper chamber to claim the role of attorney general, which Republicans will have control of next year, but GOP senators have expressed reservations about casting their votes for him.
The Florida Republican, who resigned from the House immediately after the announcement, has recently been the subject of a probe by the House Ethics Committee looking into whether he had taken part in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, alongside other allegations. He has denied allegations of wrongdoing, but Gaetz’s resignation essentially kills the probe by taking himself out of the panel’s jurisdiction.
Johnson said Sunday that he had not “seen the efforts report on Matt Gaetz,” but he also said that Trump’s pick for attorney general is “an incredibly effective advocate for the president.”
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