Trump's Attorney General Nominee Is Matt Gaetz, but Is He Even a Lawyer?

As President-elect Donald Trump builds his cabinet for his second term in office, he's made a number of appointments that have, at the very least, caused some people to scratch their heads. Among his more surprising appointments was the decision to nominate Matt Gaetz to be attorney general.

Gaetz is such an unconventional choice for attorney general, in fact, that many people aren't even sure whether he's a lawyer or not. This is important, of course, because the attorney general is supposed to be the top law enforcement officer in the country, so it would be good for that person to have some sense of how U.S. law actually works. Here's what we know about whether Gaetz is a lawyer.

Although he doesn't usually lead with his legal bona fides, Gaetz does have a law degree that he earned through William & Mary Law School that he earned in 2007. After earning that degree, he went on to work at a law firm in Fort Walton Beach, Fla. His license was briefly suspended by the Florida bar in 2021 for unpaid fees, but he is currently a member in good standing according to the Associated Press.

There is no requirement that the attorney general be someone with a law degree, but a lawyer has customarily filled that position since the Department of Justice is an agency filled with lawyers. While Gaetz may be a lawyer, though, there are still plenty of things about his nomination that have alarmed the public. Among them is the fact that, until just recently, he was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

It's unusual for a man who was once under investigation by an agency to be appointed to lead it, but that would be exactly the circumstance if Gaetz was confirmed as the attorney general.

Gaetz has been accused of being involved in a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. The investigation concluded in 2023 with no charges filed against Gaetz.

Gaetz was also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee related to the same allegation, but that investigation has now been dropped following his resignation from the House of Representatives. In June of this year, the committee gave an update on the investigation in which it said that it was also looking into whether Gaetz had engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use, as well as whether he had accepted improper gifts or sought to obstruct investigations into his conduct.

Gaetz's resignation from the House means that this investigation is now ended. Gaetz has been loyal to Trump throughout his time in politics and has come to be regarded as one of the president-elect's most full-throated defenders. Now, Gaetz will have the power of the justice department at his disposal, assuming he actually gets nominated and is confirmed by the Senate.