of Donald Trump the choice of Matt Gaetz To be attorney general, many Justice Department employees are reeling, worried not only about their own jobs but also about the future of the agency against which the Trump loyalist railed.

The president-elect’s pick of the Florida Republican sent shockwaves through the entire Cabinet department, given Gaetz’s lack of law enforcement experience and the fact that he was once the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation. The names of well-regarded veteran attorneys have been floated as possible candidates for the job, but Gaetz’s selection has been broadly interpreted as an indication of Trump’s premium on personal loyalty and his desire to have a disruptor lead a department that for years for days he investigated and finally indicted him.

Career attorneys for the department interviewed by The Associated Press, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share their feelings publicly, described a widespread sense of bewilderment — even outrage — at the nomination. They spoke of being inundated with calls and texts from colleagues as soon as the news broke.

Some inside the department were not immediately sure that Gaetz, who graduated from law school in 2007 but spent most of his career as a lawmaker, including in Congress, was even a lawyer. And some are already looking for new jobs as concerns grow about Gaetz’s rhetoric about going after the “deep state.”

Trump described Gaetz as the right person to “remove systemic corruption” from the agency, end the “weaponized” government and “restore Americans’ severely shattered faith and trust in the Department of Justice.” Trump has yet to announce a similar leadership change at the FBI, though one could come given his long-standing criticism of the director, Christopher Wray.

Gaetz faces continued scrutiny over a federal sex-trafficking investigation that ended without criminal charges. Before his resignation from the House on Wednesday, he was investigated by the House Ethics Committee, which examined whether he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct .

The President of the Chamber Mike Johnson said Friday that he would “strongly demand” the House committee not to release the results of its investigation, rebuffing senators who are demanding access now that Gaetz has been elected attorney general.

Gaetz has denied all allegations. On Friday, he posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “lies have been weaponized” in an effort to try to destroy him.

Justice Department officials were already preparing for a major shift in the agency’s agenda on civil rights and other issues before Trump tapped Gaetz to become the nation’s top federal law enforcement officer.

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