'Holding onto false hopes': Dem shares path that may block Trump's ‘Gonzo agent of chaos'

Washington insiders continued to be stunned Wednesday evening by President-elect Donald Trump’s unusual pick for attorney general of Matt Gaetz, who a former congressional colleague described as “a gonzo agent of chaos” who is disliked even by those in his own party.

“There’s a lot of attributes the attorney general needs – equanimity, care, prudence, a deep respect for the rule of law. Matt Gaetz is the opposite of all of those things,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer during an appearance on his show, “The Situation Room.” The comments came after Himes, a top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told the host he agreed with Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy’s description of Gaetz’s selection to lead the Justice Department as “a red alert moment.”

“I know Matt Gaetz, and by the way, his Republican colleagues feel the same way that I do. He is a 'Gonzo' agent of chaos,” he told Blitzer.

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Himes continued his rebuke of Gaetz by saying that while he wouldn’t have made the nominations that came out of Trump’s transition team yesterday – including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for secretary of state and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) as national security adviser – choosing Gaetz for the top cabinet post “is a total failure of discernment.”

“It’s time, particularly for the Senate to be discriminating, and say, 'Do we have a constitutional role to act as a checker of balance?'” Himes told viewers. “Sadly, I don't have a ton of confidence based on what I’m hearing from Republican senators who now seem to be wholly owned subsidiaries of Donald J. Trump.”

He concluded by telling Blitzer that the Gaetz nomination could be rescinded if Trump’s other cabinet picks who are current members of the House are forced to resign to move into their new position, and “they’re no longer in the majority.”

“So maybe I’m holding onto false hopes there, but I think there’s a couple of checks to this runaway train,” Himes said.

Watch the clip below or at this link.