The reaction of Republicans on Capitol Hill to that of President-elect Donald Trump Matt Gaetz’s pick to be his attorney general on Wednesday ranged from shock to support.

Several House Republicans, meeting behind closed doors, said there was a gasp in the chamber when they heard Trump had chosen Gaetz.

Sen. Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, was among those who expressed shock, appearing to refer to Trump’s demand that his nominees finish their recess appointments — without Senate confirmation.

“This shows why the counseling and consent process is so important, and I’m sure there will be a lot of questions raised at his hearing,” Collins told reporters. “Obviously, the president has the right to appoint whoever he wants, but I’m sure there will be a lot of questions.”

Alaska GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial during his first term, said “I don’t think this is a serious nomination for attorney general.”

“We need to have a serious attorney general, and I look forward to the opportunity to consider someone who is serious,” she said. “That wasn’t on my bingo card.”

Gaetz faced a years-long investigation by the Justice Department that began in 2019 into allegations of sex trafficking and obstruction of justice. He has long denied any wrongdoing, and the Justice Department informed Gaetz in 2023 that it declined to file charges against him after its investigation.

But the Florida congressman still faces a ongoing investigation by the House Ethics Committee on the same allegations.

House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday night that Gaetz had resigned from Congress to “start the clock” on the process for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to call a special election to fill the vacancy. Gaetz’s resignation will end the investigation by the Ethics Committee, which does not investigate members after they leave Congress.

Republican Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, asked if the ethics investigation concerned him, said: “Most certainly, it would be concerning because it would be part of his record,” Rounds said. Rounds told reporters he had “no reaction yet” to whether Gaetz would be confirmed. Asked if he would vote to confirm, he said, “All I can really tell you right now is that we normally give the president benefit of the doubt but we still do our due diligence and advice and consent is still important”.

GOP Sen. Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming was vague when asked about Gaetz, telling reporters, “I haven’t even had a chance to think about it yet, it’s too new for me.”

Republican Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho told ABC News he doesn’t know Gaetz “so I’ll have to look into that.” Asked if Gaetz could be confirmed, he said: “I have no idea, but I assume so.”

Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who had announced Trump as his choice for secretary of state earlier in the day, had complementary things to say about his fellow Florida man.

“I’ve known him for a long time, and again, I think the president is entitled to his team and he’s made his appointments,” he said. “And so, I really like Matt. I know him very well and I am confident that if the Senate confirms him, he would do a good job. And again, presidents have the right to have the people they want in these key positions to carry out the mandate given to them by the voters United States.”

On the House side, Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana and House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., expressed support for Trump’s election. But Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, a former Trump aide who was particularly critical of Gaetz following his efforts to oust then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year, strongly contested the choice, predicted that Gaetz would not will be approved by the Senate.

“I think it’s stupid. I think the president is probably rewarding him for being such a loyal soldier to the president, but the president is smart enough, and his team is smart enough, to know that Mr. Gaetz will never be confirmed by the Senate. Anyway,” he said. “And so this is going to be a very long time for him, where he’s going to be excoriated by members of the Senate on both sides of the aisle, because he’s never been a team player and he doesn’t never helped this conference.”

Miller said “there are two different kinds of chaos” — saying Trump brings a positive one, but that the one Gaetz brings “breaks things.”