Trump transition live updates: Gaetz withdraws name from consideration to be AG; new pick announced

Former GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz announced Thursday he is withdrawing his name from consideration to be President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general.

"I had excellent meetings with Senators yesterday," Gaetz wrote in a post on X. "I appreciate their thoughtful feedback - and the incredible support of so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition. There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I'll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General. Trump's DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1."

"I remain fully committed to see that Donald J. Trump is the most successful President in history," Gaetz added. "I will forever be honored that President Trump nominated me to lead the Department of Justice and I'm certain he will Save America."

Gaetz informed Trump late Thursday morning that he'd be withdrawing, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The woman who accused Pete Hegseth of sexual assault in 2017 told police at the time that he took her phone and blocked her from leaving his hotel room on the night of the incident, according to a 22-page police report obtained by ABC News.

The report, compiled in Oct. 2017 by the Monterey Police Department, provides graphic new details of an alleged altercation that now threatens to derail Hegseth's bid to become President-elect Donald Trump's Defense Secretary.

The report documents a police investigation that did not result in charges against the former Fox News star. It includes interviews with the woman, who is identified only as Jane Doe, and Hegseth, who told police that the encounter was consensual.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is set to create a new "Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE)" subcommittee to work with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's incoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the next Congress, a source familiar with the plans tells ABC News.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene will chair the new subcommittee, which will "support the Oversight and Accountability Committee's mission to root out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government," the source said.

Lawmakers involved in the future subcommittee have already met with members of the White House "DOGE" team, including Ramaswamy, who support the House Oversight Committee's endeavor and are already working together, the source said.

"The subcommittees will be officially established early next year when the Oversight and Accountability Committee meets to ratify its rules for the 119th Congress," the source said.

-ABC News' Will Steakin

In a fiery floor speech on Wednesday, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis took his GOP colleagues to task for missing votes on Monday that he said could have helped Republicans block the Democratic effort to install lame-duck lifetime judiciary appointments.

Trump has made clear he wants Republicans to make every effort to block Democrats from advancing judicial nominations.

The Senate is again expected to be in quite late Wednesday evening trying to process judicial nominations, a process necessary because Republicans are objecting to placing votes on these nominees on the Senate calendar.

Republicans will be powerless to stop this if all Democrats show up to vote, as Democrats have the majority necessary to move nominees through. But there were enough Democratic absences on Monday that a full Republican showing could have defeated some of the nominations.

Tillis didn't mince words on the Senate floor Wednesday as he called out his colleagues for missing votes.

"I think the American people are on board with me: We have to show up for work, right?" he said.

"We've got work to do here and I understand there are all kinds of good reasons but there's no excuse to let Chuck Schumer force these judicial nominations down our throat," Tillis said. "We've got to show up for work."