WASHINGTON — Republican senators are preparing for a solid check by Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, with a keen interest in the details of a House Ethics Committee investigation into the former Florida congressman.

The Ethics Commission has been investigating Gaetz since 2021, focus most recently on alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other charges. But the results of that investigation may not become public because Gaetz resigned from Parliament at noon on Thursday. The Ethics Committee has jurisdiction only over sitting members of the House.

Trump’s selection of Gaetz came as a surprise to almost everyone, including members his own party and officials from the Department of Justice — partly because of the Ethics investigation, his past legal problems and his reputation as a stickler in Congress.

A source familiar with the process told NBC News that Gaetz consulted with Trump about who would be best to lead the Justice Department. Gaetz did not ask for the role, the person said, but Trump asked him to take the job Wednesday morning, just hours before the decision was made public.

Many Republican senators, including members of the GOP-led Judiciary Committee, which will oversee Gaetz’s nomination for attorney general, said they would like to see the details of the House ethics investigation into Gaetz.

“I think it would be helpful,” said Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa.

Sen.-elect John Curtis, R-Utah, said he would “absolutely” like to see the findings of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation, saying, “I don’t know the technical details or whether or not we’re going to see that, but I think it would be very relevant.”

The House Ethics Committee was scheduled to meet Friday, three sources familiar with the meeting told NBC News, and one of those sources said the release of the Gaetz report was expected to be on the agenda. Punchbowl News reported earlier Wednesday that the ethics panel planned to release a “highly damaging” report on Gaetz on Friday, citing multiple sources familiar with the probe.

But Gaetz’s resignation complicated matters, and the meeting was canceled, according to a source with direct knowledge.

Although the panel lost jurisdiction over Gaetz when he resigned, there is precedent for publishing ethics reports after or on the same day a lawmaker leaves Congress. It happened in the case of the former rep. Bill BonerD-Tenn., two months after resigning in 1987 to become mayor of Nashville and with former rep. Buzz LukensR-Ohio, on the day he resigned in 1990.

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, said he would be open to subpoenaing the House panel to collect the evidence it gathered if the committee decides not to release the report.

“We need to have full vetting of the nominees, not only to know that the nominee is qualified, but also to protect the president,” said Cornyn, a former Republican executive.

“I’m sure it’s not in his best interest,” Cornyn said, referring to Trump, “to have any surprises in the House Ethics Committee report.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-C., the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, said he doesn’t believe the Senate has the authority to subpoena House records, adding, “I’d go ape … if they tried to. quote something here.”

Graham also said that Trump did not consult him on the choice of Gaetz. “Elections have consequences. He chose Matt Gaetz. Matt’s going to come in front of the committee and he’s going to be asked some tough questions and we’ll see how he does,” Graham said.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who is likely to take over as Judiciary chairman in January, dodged questions Thursday about whether he wants to see the House ethics report.

“Well, we have a professional staff in the judiciary that will do a full vetting job and all those questions will be answered by the vetting report,” Grassley said.

Asked again if he wanted to see it, Grassley said: “I think we have a vetting process. Let him play.”

Cornyn and other Republican senators have said they believe they will get all the key evidence from the ethics probe, even if the report itself never comes to light, thanks to an FBI background check and other research conducted as part of Gaetz’s confirmation process. in the Senate.

“I am confident that whatever information and conclusions the House Ethics Committee has will eventually come to light, either through the FBI’s background investigation, the committee’s examination of the nominee, or through cross-examination at the hearing,” the senator said. Susan Collins, R. – Tomorrow.

Collins does not sit on the Judiciary Committee, but is a moderate Republican whose vote in the full Senate could make or break Gaetz’s nomination.

Under the usual process, once formally nominated, Gaetz will be grilled by members of both parties on the Senate Judiciary Committee in at least one public hearing. The panel will then vote to send his nomination to the Senate, where a simple majority is needed to confirm him for attorney general.

If the Republicans end up winning the Senate seat in Pennsylvania, heading for the recountGaetz can lose four votes in the Senate and still win confirmation. Trump has also said he wants the ability to appoint members of his cabinet without a confirmation vote while the Senate is in recess.

Although many Republican senators expressed bewilderment Wednesday about Trump’s selection of Gaetz, given his lack of experience, the Ethics Commission investigated the successful coup against then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. , and the Department of Justice. sex-trafficking investigation into the congressman that ended last year without chargesno one rejected him definitively.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, another moderate, appeared to go the furthest, saying Gaetz was not “a serious nominee for attorney general” and that it would be “a significant challenge” for him to be confirmed. And Ernst said of Gaetz on Wednesday: “He’s got his work cut out for him.”

In the 18 hours since he was announced as Trump’s pick to lead the Justice Department, Gaetz has already started working the phones and calling some Republican senators to find out what his chances are of being confirmed next year, four sources with direct knowledge of the mobilization told NBC News.

Separately, Vice President-elect JD Vance and his team made their own calls to Senate Republicans about Gaetz, two additional sources familiar with the calls told NBC News.

Gaetz will have to answer questions during Senate hearings about his past scandals and his qualifications for the role, senators said.

“I’m concerned that he can’t cross the finish line,” said Sen. Kevin Cramer, RN.D. “and we’re going to spend a lot of political capital – I’m saying we, a lot of people are going to spend a lot of political capital – on something that, even if they did, you’d have to wonder if it was worth it. .”

Cramer said he had “concerns” about Gaetz, particularly how he “really disrupted and destroyed the House of Representatives for several months” in his successful efforts to oust McCarthy, who, said Cramer, “he’s done nothing but get away with it and, you know, damage the reputation of the House of Representatives to the point where they didn’t, they didn’t catch the wave in this most recent (election).”

Asked directly if he would vote to confirm Gaetz, Cramer said the Florida congressman would have to go through the Judiciary Committee first. “I never say what I will never do, because I want to hear the case … I would be open,” Cramer said. “But he has a very steep hill to climb to get a lot of votes, including mine.”

Asked if any Senate Republicans might outwit Trump and vote against his Cabinet nominees overall, incumbent Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., said: “A number of them, and I won’t say which. You still have to go through that process. And if there’s stuff on your record that doesn’t make sense, you’re probably not going to make it through the process.”