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Donald Trump's pick of Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) to lead the Justice Department, even as he faces a House Ethics Committee report on allegations he engaged in sex trafficking, illicit drugs, campaign finance offenses, and a number of other misdeeds, could prove too much for Senate Republicans, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN's Jake Tapper.

But all the same, she cautioned, one shouldn't underestimate the GOP's capacity to swallow their pride for Trump.

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow joined her colleague Nicolle Wallace on Thursday afternoon to discuss the president-elect making good on his promise to appoint unqualified loyalists.

Maddow said it's time Americans "get real and realize this is really what we're up against."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta tries to stay above the political fray, said CNN anchor Jake Tapper, but he couldn't remain silent on his opposition to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

"You know, it's not often that the entire medical and public health community will be in lock-step on something, but they're pretty close on this in terms of their significant concerns, horror even," about RFK Jr., said Gupta.

A CNN analyst said Thursday that Donald Trump’s controversial cabinet picks that continue to stun Capitol Hill are just another example that the president-elect better be taken “at his word.”

CNN’s Jamie Gangel revealed Republicans' private views about Trump’s still-evolving administration Thursday as news broke he'd offered Robert Kennedy Jr. the role of Health and Human Services secretary.

President-elect Donald Trump just put the "fox in charge of the henhouse," a livid CNN analyst said Thursday.

Trump's Truth Social announcement that he wanted vaccine-denier (and bear crime scene-stager) Robert F. Kennedy to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services outraged CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner.

Donald Trump has already queued up an uncomfortable loyalty test for Senate Republicans with a long string of controversial nominees even they would struggle to support, like Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for attorney general — and it remains to be seen whether there will be any serious resistance. However, reportxed Paul Kane for The Washington Post, there are already signs that many Senate Republicans — particularly those from small states — are looking to "rally around their own" instead of Trump.

"Sen. John Thune (South Dakota) overcame doubts about his past criticism of President-elect Donald Trump and won his secret-ballot election in an old-fashioned manner. Thune assembled a coalition that began with other GOP allies from similarly small states, defeating big-state, big-money rivals from Texas and Florida," wrote Kane. He did so partly by assuring colleagues he would back Trump where important — but gave some hints that he might not align in some ways.

The House Ethics Committee reportedly heard testimony from a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) when she was 17 years old.

Sources familiar with the Ethics Committee investigation told ABC News that the woman testified for multiple days over the summer. The woman said Gaetz assaulted her while she was in high school, the sources said.

Donald Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to run the Department of Health and Human Services — and the reaction hit fast.

Kennedy is an open conspiracy theorist who, among other things, has shared his belief that vaccines cause autism. He also seeks to remove fluoride from drinking water, and wants to close down the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the safety of drugs and food for the American people.

Former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY), who considers Tulsi Gabbard a "friend" from when they served together in Congress, raised the alarm in a column for MSNBC that in accepting Donald Trump's nomination to be director of national intelligence, would be making a "grave mistake."

Specifically, Rose wrote, Gabbard — whose nomination triggered immediate criticism from experts for her lack of qualifications to oversee the intelligence community — is allowing her foreign policy views, which broadly emphasize criticism of American power and sympathy for dictators abroad, as a way to back the "reckless" MAGA agenda and its leader.

Co-founder of The Federalist and far-right commentator Ben Domenech is telling Republican Senators that if they approve former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) as attorney general, they'll own the decision forever.

Domenech attacked Gaetz in "The Transom" newsletter on Thursday, calling him a "piece of s--t" and slinging allegations about sex trafficking and drug use, both of which Gaetz has been investigated for but which he denies.

Conservative Kansas City Star columnist David Mastio believes that President-elect Donald Trump really stepped in it when he decided to make former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) his attorney general.

In his latest column, Mastio outlined why nominating Gaetz was a "big mistake" that could come back to haunt Trump.

Multiple people who worked for President-elect Donald Trump's first administration are making plans to flee the country for fear that he might target them once he retakes power in January.

The Washington Post reports that a retired U.S. Army officer who clashed with Trump officials, a member of Trump's first administration who has publicly denounced him, and a former United States intelligence official are all making plans to flee to foreign nations ahead of Trump's second inauguration.