WASHINGTON (AP) — Matt Gaetz stepped down as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general Thursday after an ongoing review of a federal sex trafficking investigation which questioned his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.

The Florida Republican’s announcement came a day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to head the Justice Department.

“While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation has unfairly become a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition,” Gaetz said in a statement announcing his decision. “There is no time to waste with an unnecessarily prolonged argument in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from consideration for the position of attorney general. Trump’s DOJ needs to be in place and ready on day 1.”

Trump, in a social media post, said: “I greatly appreciate the recent efforts of Matt Gaetz in seeking approval to be Attorney General. He was doing very well, but at the same time, he didn’t want to be a distraction to the Administration, for which he has a lot of respect. Matt has a great future and I look forward to watching all the great things he does!”

Gaetz’s withdrawal is a blow to Trump’s effort to install staunch loyalists in his new administration and the first sign that Trump could face resistance from members of his own party in an election with eyebrow-raising backgrounds.

Gaetz’s announcement came days after an attorney for two women said his clients told House Ethics Committee investigators that Gaetz paid them for sex on multiple occasions beginning in 2017, when Gaetz was Congressman from Florida. He resigned from the House after Trump announced he would nominate him for the Cabinet.

One of the women testified that she saw Gaetz having sex with a 17-year-old boy at a party in Florida in 2017, according to attorney Joel Leppard. Leppard said his client testified that she did not believe Gaetz knew the girl was a minor, broke off their relationship when she found out and did not resume until after she turned 18. The age of consent in Florida is 18.

Gaetz has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and said last year that the Justice Department’s investigation into sex-trafficking allegations involving underage girls ended without federal charges against him.

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Associated Press writer Adriana Gomez Licon contributed to this report.