Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., announced Thursday he would withdraw his name as new President Donald Trump’s attorney general.

“I had excellent meetings with senators yesterday. I appreciate their thoughtful feedback – and the incredible support from so many. While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation unfairly became a distraction from the critical work of the Trump/Vance transition. ,” Gaetz wrote in a post on X, just a week after Trump announced his intention to nominate Gaetz for the position.

“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted scuffle in Washington, so I will withdraw my name from serving as attorney general. Trump’s DOJ must be in place and ready on Day 1,” Gaetz added.

In a post on TruthSocial, Trump praised Gaetz and said he had done “very well” in the confirmation process.

“I greatly appreciate Matt Gaetz’s recent efforts in obtaining approval to become Attorney General. He did very well, but at the same time he did not want to be a distraction for the government, for which he has great respect. Matt did that too. a bright future, and I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do!” the President-elect wrote.

Gaetz, who Trump named as his choice for AG last week, faced significant headwinds in the confirmation process, including an earlier investigation by the department he was tasked with leading.

Trump’s choice of Gaetz brought a new investigation into previous allegations against the former congressman, who faced a Justice Department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking and sex with a minor.

Gaetz has vehemently denied these allegations and the investigation ended when the Justice Department chose not to charge Gaetz.

He resigned from his post in the House of Representatives last week, effectively ending a separate House Ethics Committee investigation into him.

The committee has investigated the allegations against Gaetz on and off since 2021. Committee members met Wednesday to discuss whether to release the report on their investigation, but failed to reach an agreement.

It is unclear what his decision to withhold his name from Trump’s Cabinet means for his seat in Congress.

Gaetz said in his resignation that he would not take an oath in the new Congress. “I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of attorney general in the Trump administration,” he said.

Despite all this, Trump and newly elected Vice President Vance maintained their strong support for Gaetz, with Trump even “working heavily on the phone” to drum up support for Gaetz and Vance attending all-day rallies on Capitol Hill on Wednesday where senators wanted hearing from Gaetz about the allegations.

In the immediate aftermath of Trump’s selection of Gaetz to lead the Justice Department, some senators were skeptical that he would get enough votes to be confirmed by a majority in the Senate.

And after meeting with Gaetz on Wednesday, Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and John Cornyn, R-Texas, told NBC News that the subject of the allegations came up.

Ernst said Gaetz himself raised the allegations during their conversation.

“He volunteered that,” she said, “I’m not going to do anything more than that.”

“He was very outspoken, but that’s all I’m going to say because he’s going to go through a very fair confirmation process with Senator Grassley, and I think a lot of that will be washed away,” Ernst added. ‘I’m just awaiting my judgement.’

When asked if the allegations against Gaetz emerged, Cornyn said, “All I said to him was there will be no secrets here.”

“It all works out in the end,” Cornyn added.