Subject: Re: Matt Gaetz Attorney General
Also, saw this elsewhere:

This pick is a present to Mike Johnson, who now will have 1 fewer PITA in the Freedom Caucus to deal with.

Maybe. But losing three House members for a few months wouldn't make his job any easier. All of the House appointees are from safely GOP districts, but it still will take time for each to be replaced (most states provide that House vacancies aren't filled by appointment, but have a special election - I know Florida works that way for the Gaetz seat).

On broader themes, my takeaway from these picks is that Trump has learned some of the lessons from his troubles in his first term - but not all of them. He has certainly realized the old Washington adage that personnel is policy. He's not letting anyone pick his subordinates this time around.

But he doesn't seem to have internalized that running the federal government isn't, and can never be, like running a closely-held business. You want the people you appoint to be on board with your agenda, but you also need people that can actually implement your agenda. Unlike a private company, Trump shares power with Congress. Unlike a private company, Trump has to act under a number of enforceable rules that constrain the ability of the federal government to just do what he wants them to do.

These are things that got him would around the axle last time around. He lost a bunch of regulations in court because his team went at his speed, rather than following the Administrative Procedure Act. He lost some very winnable fights because his proposed actions were overbroad or underdeveloped. And he lost a few fights (notably over ACA repeal) because he didn't act strategically in handling Congress, a source of power in the federal government that doesn't have to listen to him (something that CEO's never face to that extent).

The Gaetz pick is therefore....somewhat baffling. He clearly knows the importance of having an absolute, 100% loyalist in that job - and that part is smart. He knows that the AG is one of the few people in the Executive that can actually constrain the President (not by much, but a little). He is not going to let anyone in that role that isn't completely subordinate to him.

But DOJ is going to be so important to many of the things he wants to do, he needs someone that's going to be good at leading that agency. It's a key agency. He needs a heavyweight lawyer and administrator in that role. That's just not what comes to mind when thinking of Gaetz.

I suspect it's less about Gaetz performing in the role, and more about making sure that no arrows come at him from DOJ during his second term. But man, it's hard to see how Gaetz runs that agency in a way that doesn't come back to bite Trump on his substantive agenda.