House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) is fighting to keep a House Ethics Committee report about attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz from being released.
The Ethics Committee was set to vote on Friday about whether or not it would publish a report detailing the findings into allegations Gaetz was involved with sex trafficking and illicit drug use, though the meeting has reportedly been canceled. With several Washington lawmakers calling on the committee to release the report anyway, Jordan, who is one of the most powerful Republicans in the lower chamber, said the move would go against “the rules.”
During a Fox News interview Thursday, Jordan noted that it was his “understanding” that, per committee rules, the report was “not supposed to go public.”
Gaetz swiftly resigned his House seat after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him on Wednesday to lead the Department of Justice. As the ex-Florida lawmaker is no longer a member of Congress, the Ethics Committee doesn’t have jurisdiction over him — hence, Jordan’s argument that the investigation should not be released.
Jordan’s position marks a contrast to at least one of his Republican colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the upper chamber.
“I think that there should not be any limitations on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s investigation, including whatever the House Ethics Committee has generated,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) told reporters Thursday.
Cornyn, who will play a pivotal role in determining whether Senate Republicans coalesce to push Gaetz’s nomination through a tough confirmation battle, continued to say he “absolutely” wanted the committee to release the report.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the Senate’s next majority leader, expressed a noncommittal attitude toward supporting Trump’s attorney general nominee. With top Trump allies expressing extreme displeasure with the private nature of the process and pushing alternative candidates, Thune appeared to step off on the wrong foot with the president-elect’s camp.
Although he promised in a recent post to X to “get to work implementing President Trump’s agenda on behalf of the American people,” Thune has not been firm in backing Gaetz.
“We don’t know until we start the [confirmation] process,” Thune said this week about Gaetz’s chances of getting confirmed. “And that’s what we intend to do with him and all the other potential nominees.”
While Republican Senate leaders are far from enthusiastic about Trump’s DOJ pick, GOP chiefs in the lower chamber are singing Gaetz’s praises.
“Everyone who served with him will tell you he is one of the most intelligent members of the Congress. He’s an accomplished attorney,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said on Wednesday.
Jordan continued the praise, saying the next day, “There are very few people who have the cross-examination skills he does.”
“I want someone at the Justice Department who can tell us who planted the pipe bombs on Jan. 6, who leaked the Dobbs opinion, who put cocaine at the White House instead of all the other stuff they seem to be focused on,” he added.
This isn’t the first time Jordan has stood up for Gaetz, even as others in the GOP have condemned the Florida Republican.
Gaetz drew backlash from some members of his own party last year when he helped topple former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his position over a disagreement on passing massive government spending bills. Several times throughout 2023, Gaetz called on House Republicans to replace McCarthy with Jordan.
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While he was a loyal McCarthy ally who worked to help him keep the speaker’s chair, Jordan also defended Gaetz from calls that he should be removed from the Republican caucus for his actions.
“I don’t think that’s warranted,” Jordan said at the time. “We’ve got a four-seat majority. Matt’s a talented member of Congress. I disagree with what he did … but he’s a great member of our committee. … I think we’ve got to come together.”
