More than half of Senate Republicans, including some in senior leadership positions, privately say they don’t see a path for former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to be confirmed as attorney general and would not support him to lead the Department of Justice, according to multiple people who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity.
While Gaetz’s ability to be confirmed appears on the rocks among Senate Republicans, President-elect Donald Trump’s team remains confident he will eventually be confirmed, even if it’s after an ugly battle.
NBC News spoke to more than 15 additional Republican sources who agreed that there are not enough votes in the Senate to confirm Gaetz, and some estimated that closer to 30 Republicans consider him unqualified.
Gaetz and Trump attorney Todd Blanche are moving full speed ahead on trying to fill out the Justice Department, according to sources familiar with the planning. If confirmed, Blanche would serve in the powerful No. 2 position at the Justice Department, overseeing all U.S. attorney’s offices throughout the country.
“President Trump and his team are focused on and confident in the confirmation of AG-designee Gaetz,” a person familiar with Trump’s thinking told NBC News.
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Vice President-elect JD Vance and his aides have also been working the phones over the last two days to get a read on where senators stand on Gaetz.
Trump announced he was choosing Gaetz for the attorney general role on Wednesday, writing in a post on Truth Social, “Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System. Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”
When the president-elect initially publicized his pick, many Republicans — except for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who got a heads-up from Trump — were in complete shock.
In his few terms in the House, Gaetz has often been embroiled in controversy.
He was investigated by the Justice Department in a case involving the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, though the former congressman, who resigned his post shortly after he was picked for attorney general, has always denied the allegations and has never been criminally charged.
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On Thursday, though, a lawyer for the 17-year-old girl wrote in a post on X, saying, “She was a high school student and there were witnesses” when the alleged incident occurred.
The attorney, John Clune, also called for the release of a House Ethics Committee report detailing the committee’s investigation into Gaetz, which has been ongoing for several years.
“If they want to send [the report] that’d be fine,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a staunch Trump ally, told reporters at the Capitol this week, though he added in a statement from his office that he planned to vote to confirm each of the president-elect’s judicial nominees.
On Friday, Johnson said he would “strongly request” that the report not be released publicly, though several Republican senators have said they would like to view the report as part of their deliberation process ahead of a confirmation vote.
“I don’t want there to be any limitation at all on what the Senate can consider,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told reporters at the Capitol this week when asked whether the Senate Judiciary Committee should be privy to the report.
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“We need to have a complete vetting of the nominees, not only so we know that the nominee is qualified, but also to protect the president,” he added.
“I think when you’re at this point, particularly given his abrupt departure from Congress just prior to that report coming out, considering the job that he is being appointed to, considering that the FBI is going to do a background check anyway, I can’t imagine that the committee is not going to want to see it,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. “So, at the very least, those of us that will have a vote at some point, starting with the Judiciary Committee, should see that. And I can’t imagine they won’t.”
The House Ethics Committee was expected to meet on Friday to decide whether to release its report on Gaetz, whom it has been investigating on and off since 2021, according to a source with direct knowledge. The panel abruptly canceled the meeting, which House Ethics Committee Chair Michael Guest, R-Miss., insisted was only postponed.
Later on Friday, an attorney for another woman interviewed by the House Ethics Committee said that his client “testified to the House Ethics Committee that she witnessed Rep. Gaetz having sex with a minor at a house party in Orlando in 2017.”
Several Republicans shared that Gaetz, who was investigated by the very agency he could now oversee, has a “steep hill” to climb toward confirmation in the Senate.
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“I would guess if we had a vote today on the Senate floor, it might be more than that,” Cramer said Thursday when pressed whether 10 Senate Republicans could vote to oppose Gaetz — as Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal suggested to NBC News earlier that day. “I have concerns that he can’t get across the finish line, and we’re gonna spend a lot of political capital … on something that even if they got it done, you’d have to wonder if it was worth it.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer in Washington, D.C., on March 7.Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images file
Republicans who oppose Gaetz now could still ultimately vote to confirm him when the time comes, especially if pressure from Trump mounts.
If Republicans wind up with 53 seats in the upper chamber after the recount in Pennsylvania’s Senate race is concluded, Gaetz will not be confirmed if more than three GOP Senators vote against him (Vance could break a tie as the president of the Senate).
Republicans like Cramer have also cautioned Trump not to jam someone like Gaetz through in a recess appointment, which would bypass the Senate confirmation process.
Shortly after he was projected to win the presidential election, Trump wrote a post on Truth Social urging Republicans running to be the next Senate majority leader to allow him to use recess appointments to confirm a Cabinet quickly.
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This style of nomination would bypass the normal appointment process, leaving the Senate entirely out of the equation, by allowing Trump to appoint members of his Cabinet while both chambers of Congress are in periods of recess that last days or weeks.
The House and Senate currently gavel in for pro forma sessions while in recess to prevent the president from taking such steps to appoint Cabinet members.
Since the Truth Social post, Trump has not asked for any specific Cabinet pick, including Gaetz, to be confirmed via recess appointment.
“If the obstructionists are the other party, and you have the votes to confirm somebody, then I think you could make an ethical decision to provide that opportunity, that constitutional opportunity,” Cramer said. “On the other hand, if the opposition is preventing you from doing it with your own party, I think it runs a couple of risks. You could do it, but you’d have a very weak Cabinet secretary.”
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President Trump continues to suggest that the U.S. will have a lengthy and active role in Venezuela after capturing the ousted president Nicolás Maduro. Trump has proposed several plans for Venezuela’s future government and economy. In those proposals, U.S. companies are expected to play a key role.
President Trump dances as he departs after speaking during a House Republican retreat at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington, DC. House Republicans will discuss their 2026 legislative agenda at the meeting.
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🎧 Trump and his aides are unclear about the future of Venezuela, NPR’s Franco Ordoñez tells Up First. When the president says the U.S. will run the country, many eyes are on Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller, known for his stringent immigration policies, is one of the U.S. officials overseeing Venezuela. Ordoñez also says Miller has more recently described ruling over the hemisphere by force.
➡️ Last night, Trump posted on social media that Venezuela will turn over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil to the U.S. While seizing current oil production is one thing, overhauling Venezuela’s oil industry requires a far greater effort. Here’s why.
While meeting with House Republicans yesterday, Trump attempted to offer his party a roadmap to victory in this year’s midterm elections. The president acknowledged the possibility of his party losing the majority in the House this year. Trump said in his speech that the president’s party often loses the midterms.
🎧 NPR’s Domenico Montanaro says that while it’s true the midterms are hard on the president’s party, it is even worse when a president’s approval rating is below 50%.Trump is facing his lowest second-term approval ratings, largely due to the rising cost of living. During yesterday’s speech, the president didn’t offer much on the topic. When he did discuss the economy, it was about how the stock market is at historic highs. He also touted his tariffs, which have actively raised prices on many things. People have informed pollsters for months that they believe the president’s policies have harmed the economy. Montanaro says one area where Trump and Republicans could take action is legislation on health care.
The Pentagon is preparing a six-month review to evaluate what it calls the military “effectiveness” of women serving in ground combat roles. Undersecretary Anthony Tata requested that the Army and Marine Corps submit data on the readiness, training, performance, casualties and command climate of ground combat units and personnel by Jan. 15. The effort aims to determine how gender integration has influenced operational success over the last decade.
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Trump has tried to bury the truth of what happened on Jan. 6, 2021. NPR built a visual archive of the attack on the Capitol, showing exactly what happened through the lenses of the people who were there. “Chapter 3: Assault on the Capitol,” lays out the timeline of key moments throughout the day as the riot unfolded.
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On the morning of Jan. 6, 2021, Trump held a “Save America” rally at the Ellipse, a site near the White House and U.S. Capitol. Multiple speakers promoted voter fraud myths and urged Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the election. Meanwhile, a group of 200 Proud Boys marched toward the Capitol. Before Trump’s speech ended, violence erupted on Capitol grounds. The Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol “was the most videotaped crime in American history, if not world history,” according to Greg Rosen, a former federal prosecutor who led the Justice Department unit that investigated the riot. But conspiracy theories still falsely label the assault a “normal tourist visit.” NPR’s review of thousands of court videos shows rioters assaulting officers with weapons, calling for executions and looting the building. These videos show the exact timing of events as they occurred. Corresponding maps show the locations where the conflict took place.
To learn more, explore NPR’s database of federal criminal cases from Jan. 6. You can also see more of NPR’s reporting on the topic.
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The tin soldier, a marionette puppet made by Nicolas Coppola and the main character in “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” show at Puppetworks.
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For more than 30 years, Puppetworks has staged classics like The Tortoise and the Hare, Pinocchio, Aladdin and more in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Every weekend, children gather on foam mats and colored blocks to watch wooden renditions of the shows. The company’s founder and artistic director, 90-year-old Nicolas Coppola, has been a professional puppeteer since 1954. The theater has puppets of all types, including marionettes, swing, hand, and rod. They transport attendees back to the 1980s, when most of these puppets were made. Over the years, Coppola has updated the show’s repertoire to better meet the cultural moment. Step inside his world with these images.
3 things to know before you go
This tiny forest in Los Angeles, CA is one of many micro-forests around the world offering green space and contributing to local biodiversity.
Demian Willette/Loyola Marymount University
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Scientists are establishing micro-forests in big cities to boost biodiversity and rejuvenate compromised land. Short Wave producer Rachel Carlson visited California’s largest micro-forest. Tune in to hear her account of the experience.
The Hungarian arthouse director Béla Tarr has died at 70. He’s best known for his bleak, existential, and challenging films, including Sátántangó.
While we often associate serendipity with luck or happy accidents, its origin suggests it’s more than just happenstance. This week, NPR’s Word of the Week explores the historical impact of serendipity and offers tips on how to cultivate it.
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Amazon has been accused of listing products from independent retailers without their consent, even as the ecommerce giant sues start-up Perplexity over its AI software shopping without permission.
The $2.5tn online retailer has listed some independent shops’ full inventory on its platform without seeking permission, four business owners told the Financial Times, enabling customers to shop through Amazon rather than buy directly.
Two independent retailers told the FT that they had also received orders for products that were either out of stock or were mispriced and mislabelled by Amazon leading to customer complaints.
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“Nobody opted into this,” said Angie Chua, owner of Bobo Design Studio, a stationery store based in Los Angeles.
Tech companies are experimenting with artificial intelligence “agents” that can perform tasks like shopping autonomously based on user instructions.
Amazon has blocked agents from Anthropic, Google, OpenAI and a host of other AI start-ups from its website.
It filed a lawsuit in November against Perplexity, whose Comet browser was making purchases on Amazon on behalf of users, alleging that the company’s actions risked undermining user privacy and violated its terms of service.
In its complaint, Amazon said Perplexity had taken steps “without prior notice to Amazon and without authorisation” and that it degraded a customer shopping experience it had invested in over several decades.
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Perplexity in a statement at the time said that the lawsuit was a “bully tactic” aimed at scaring “disruptive companies like Perplexity” from improving customers’ experience.
The recent complaints against Amazon relate to its “Buy for Me” function, launched last April, which lets some customers purchase items that are not listed with Amazon but on other retailers’ sites.
Retailers said Amazon did not seek their permission before sending them orders that were placed on the ecommerce site. They do not receive the user’s email address or other information that might be helpful for generating future sales, several sellers told the FT.
“We consciously avoid Amazon because our business is rooted in community and building a relationship with customers,” Chua said. “I don’t know who these customers are.”
Several of the independent retailers said Amazon’s move had led to poor experiences for customers, or hurt their business.
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Sarah Hitchcock Burzio, the owner of Hitchcock Paper Co. in Virginia, said that Amazon had mislabelled items leading to a surge in orders as customers believed they were receiving more expensive versions of a product at a much lower price.
“There were no guardrails set up so when there were issues there was nobody I could go to,” she said.
Product returns and complaints for the “Buy for Me” function are handled by sellers rather than Amazon, even when errors are produced by the Seattle-based group.
Amazon enables sellers to opt out of the service by contacting the company on a specific email address.
Amazon said: “Shop Direct and Buy for Me are programmes we’re testing that help customers discover brands and products not currently sold in Amazon’s store, while helping businesses reach new customers and drive incremental sales.
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“We have received positive feedback on these programmes. Businesses can opt out at any time.”
President Donald Trump said Tuesday night that Venezuela will turn over 30 million to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States, to be sold at market value and with the proceeds controlled by the US.
Interim authorities in Venezuela will turn over “sanctioned oil” Trump said on Truth Social.
The US will use the proceeds “to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” he wrote.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright has been directed to “execute this plan, immediately,” and the barrels “will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States.”
CNN has reached out to the White House for more information.
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A senior administration official, speaking under condition of anonymity, told CNN that the oil has already been produced and put in barrels. The majority of it is currently on boats and will now go to US facilities in the Gulf to be refined.
Although 30 to 50 million barrels of oil sounds like a lot, the United States consumed just over 20 million barrels of oil per day over the past month.
That amount may lower oil prices a bit, but it probably won’t lower Americans’ gas prices that much: Former President Joe Biden released about four to six times as much — 180 million barrels of oil — from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2022, which lowered gas prices by only between 13 cents and 31 cents a gallon over the course of four months, according to a Treasury Department analysis.
US oil fell about $1 a barrel, or just under 2%, to $56, immediately after Trump made his announcement on Truth Social.
Selling up to 50 million barrels could raise quite a bit of revenue: Venezuelan oil is currently trading at $55 per barrel, so if the United States can find buyers willing to pay market price, it could raise between $1.65 billion and $2.75 billion from the sale.
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Venezuela has built up significant stockpiles of crude over since the United States began its oil embargo late last year. But handing over that much oil to the United States may deplete Venezuela’s own oil reserves.
The oil is almost certainly coming from both its onshore storage and some of the seized tankers that were transporting oil: The country has about 48 million barrels of storage capacity and was nearly full, according to Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at the Price Futures Group. The tankers were transporting about 15 million to 22 million barrels of oil, according to industry estimates.
It’s unclear over what time period Venezuela will hand over the oil to the United States.
The senior administration official said the transfer would happen quickly because Venezuela’s crude is very heavy, which means it can’t be stored for long.
But crude does not go bad if it is not refined in a certain amount of time, said Andrew Lipow, the president of Lipow Oil Associates, in a note. “It has sat underground for hundreds of millions of years. In fact, much of the oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve has been around for decades,” he wrote.
