Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., closes a door to a private meeting with Vice President-elect JD Vance and Republican Senate Judiciary Committee members, at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday. J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press The big moment. Former congressman Matt Gaetz’s time as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general has come to an end. It wound up lasting less than a Scaramucci. Gaetz, R-Florida, announced suddenly Thursday that he’s withdrawing from consideration, amid continued revelations about sexual misconduct claims against him, questions about a looming House Ethics Committee report and resistance from his fellow Republicans. Both Gaetz and Trump in social media posts claimed that Gaetz was doing well but had become a “distraction” – a PR word that often gets bandied about in untenable circumstances. But Gaetz’s downfall was about more than a momentary distraction. It was a sizable early setback for Trump, just more than two weeks after his triumphant 2024 election win. It’s also a sign that institutions – or at least a few members of them – can still stand up to Trump, and a remarkably swift conclusion to what could be a series of tussles between Trump and his own party. Let’s dive into those dynamics and other takeaways. IT’S A MAJOR SETBACK FOR TRUMP Gaetz was always going to be a tough sell, even for his fellow Republicans. Just four Republican senators would have been enough to kill his nomination if they voted with all Democrats. And plenty expressed reservations. There is not much love for Gaetz in congressional Republican circles, dating back to his successful effort to oust then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-California, last year. His baggage was also the most problematic among Trump’s controversial nominees, given that it involved allegations of sex with a 17-year-old – and particularly given the prospect of the ethics report coming out. On Tuesday, I wrote about how Gaetz’s nomination was in the most trouble, full stop. That wasn’t exactly a hot take. But just because this was predictable doesn’t mean it’s not bad for Trump. Trump chose to spend some of his earliest post-election political capital on this fight, daring Republican senators to defy him just a week after his election. He chose someone for a prestigious Cabinet department who had major baggage that was obvious to anyone with access to Google. And that gamble quickly fell apart. The whole thing suggests a very fast-and-loose Trump operation – no surprise if you were paying attention from 2017 through early 2021 – that is going to keep creating problems for the man in charge and his party. That there was apparently nobody around Trump willing or able to caution him against Gaetz doesn’t augur well for what lies ahead. Trump undoubtedly cares less about the idea that his political capital is damaged than your average politician. He’ll just move on to the next thing. But it can’t help but look like weakness – including to the Republicans he could clash with within the months and years to come. IT SHOWS THAT INSTITUTIONS CAN STILL STAND UP TO TRUMP Trump has claimed that the 2024 election gave him a huge mandate – despite him failing to win a majority of the popular vote and Republicans gaining relatively little ground. And Republicans have largely echoed that line. Some have gone as far as to suggest it’s time to just give Trump pretty much whatever he wants, including his Cabinet picks. We don’t yet know all the details of why Gaetz withdrew and how much the GOP resistance played a role (vs., say, Gaetz worrying about his own personal dirty laundry being aired). But regardless, this is an early signal that institutions – whether Republican senators, the legal and ethics systems, and/or the media – can still provide a significant check on Trump, if they are so inclined. We shouldn’t oversell that. As noted, Gaetz was always likely to be a bridge too far. And seeing Republican senators give lukewarm quotes about him and choose to fight against him more privately doesn’t exactly suggest they feel empowered to publicly stand up to Trump. A handful of senators with reservations about Gaetz is far from the entire Senate, even as the opposition was apparently enough to make him and Trump think twice about moving forward. Still, Gaetz’s failure was an early test of the system. The system didn’t work in Trump’s favor. And Trump’s critics right now probably undersell how assertive the GOP-controlled Senate, in particular, could be. This is a chamber that features plenty of institutionalists who don’t love the idea of being rolled by the president and forced to do things they don’t like (tariffs, abandoning Ukraine, etc.). Trump has also signaled he’ll push his political and policy norm-breaking quite a bit further than in his first term. It only takes four Republicans to stand in his way, and there are a fair number of moderates, Trump critics and retiring senators who could do so. WHAT IT MEANS FOR TRUMP’S OTHER PICKS When Trump picked Gaetz last week, theories abounded about how maybe this wasn’t all that it seemed – that it wasn’t truly about getting Gaetz installed as attorney general. A prominent theory was that perhaps Gaetz was a stalking horse. It held that he was a completely unacceptable pick put forward to be rejected and make Trump’s other picks, including his next pick for attorney general, look more acceptable by comparison. Whether or not that was the intent, the question now becomes whether Gaetz withdrawing will indeed make it easier for Trump’s other picks, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (health and human services secretary), Tulsi Gabbard (director of national intelligence) and Pete Hegseth (defense secretary). Will Republicans view themselves as having beaten back the worst of Trump’s picks and relent on other nominees? Maybe. But I think the lack of a true, extended fight over Gaetz makes that less plausible. It would be one thing if Republicans fought over Gaetz for months, and Trump supporters were able to send a strong signal that opposing Trump would come with a cost (including public attacks and primaries). Some murmurs of retribution began this week, but the revenge campaign never really took hold. Now Gaetz will be a distant memory by the time those other nominations get considered, and nobody had to vote against him. You could also make a strong argument that critics of Trump’s picks will be emboldened by beating this one back so quickly. WHAT’S NEXT FOR GAETZ Another big question after Gaetz’s withdrawal is what happens to his political career. He resigned from the current, 118th Congress last week, after all. But the Florida congressman was reelected this month to the 119th Congress and could take his seat come Jan. 3. Republicans will have a narrow majority in which every seat could matter. Georgetown University’s Matt Glassman has a good look at the legal ins and outs. Basically, it would probably be up to the Republican-controlled House, which can interpret its own rules. But also, coming back to Congress would almost undoubtedly lead to the release of that ethics report, at which point Gaetz and his fellow Republicans would have to relive all of this drama. And it could involve Republicans voting to reseat a guy they clearly have little regard for and view as a problem for their party. Gaetz has also been rumored as a potential candidate for Florida governor in 2026. As for whether he could win his party’s nomination and that office? It probably can’t be completely ruled out in a red state. A MOMENTOUS POLL NUMBER 51-36 That’s the margin by which voters in a new Economist/YouGov poll say they approve of Trump’s handling of his presidential transition. It’s one of the first polls of how people view Trump post-election. That suggests he’s gotten something of a honeymoon, at least as of Tuesday (when the poll concluded). It also suggests that the major controversies surrounding his Cabinet picks haven’t turned Americans against him. Or perhaps it’s that people really haven’t tuned in to nomination battles that won’t take place until early 2025. For instance, the same poll asked whether people approved of Gaetz’s selection, and voters were about evenly split – 37% favorable to 39% unfavorable. Maybe it’s just early and people have political fatigue. 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This story is part of the November 24 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories . Anna Polyviou is a pastry chef. The 45-year-old shares her day on a plate. Credit: Art by Eliza Iredale 7am After an hour’s walk around the park, I swing by my local fishmonger to pick up fresh seafood for dinner and grab a piccolo coffee along the way. 8am Breakfast at a cafe is simple yet satisfying: a piccolo coffee, a slice of sourdough toast, two poached eggs and a side of chili jam. 10am From now until 5pm I’m in the kitchen, developing recipes and creating content. At lunch I have a quick bite of salmon sushi and miso soup. There is plenty of taste-testing throughout – from cheese to chocolate and other sweet treats – plus loads of water. 5.30pm I hit the beach and take my dog, Anca, for some playtime, chasing balls and enjoying a frosty fruit icy pole. Then it’s barbecue time! I fire up the grill to enjoy a seafood feast dinner featuring a whole snapper with lemongrass, ginger and chili, garlic king prawns, scallops with lime and coriander, charred octopus, and charred green vegies with haloumi and honey vinaigrette, all served with rocket and paired with a Negroni. 10pm A cup of tea with honey and a dash of milk. Dr Joanna McMillan says Top marks for ... All that seafood! While oily fish often gets the nutrition spotlight for the content of omega-3s, your other choices are fabulous for protein and often-lacking minerals, such as selenium, iodine, magnesium, zinc and iron. If you keep eating like this you’ll ... Run low on antioxidants and other beneficial bioactives that we get from plants, especially fruit and veg. Adding greens to your barbecue was terrific, but you need more in your day, while fruit provides unique bioactives and fibres (the icy pole doesn’t count!). Watch that the sweet treat tasting doesn’t lead to overeating and replacement of more nutritious foods. Why don’t you try ... Adding mushrooms, asparagus and/or spinach to your breakfast, and a seaweed salad to lunch. Make homemade icy poles using blended whole fruits or snack on a bowl of berries with a few nuts. Anna Polyviou is an ambassador for BarbeCURE , helping Cure Cancer Australia fund new cutting-edge research. Get the best of Sunday Life magazine delivered to your inbox every Sunday morning. Sign up here for our free newsletter . Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. License this article Sunday Life Diet Wellness Nicole Economos is a Social Media Producer/Journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Connect via email . Most Viewed in Lifestyle Loading

Muslim Democrat sues after being ejected from Harris event in MichiganDemocrats select three nominees to replace Rep. Emma Kerr Carpenter in Montana HouseAmbala: The Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) elections would be held from 8am to 5pm on Jan 19 next year. The commissioner of gurdwara elections in Haryana announced the schedule on Tuesday. Nominations can be filed from Dec 20 to 28 and scrutiny of papers will be done on Dec 30, according to the notification. The counting of the votes will take place immediately after the completion of the election. Several Sikh organisations of Haryana, including Haryana Sikh Ekta Dal, Sikh Samaj Sanstha and others, had been demanding elections to the Sikh body. The state govt had nominated second ad hoc panel in mid-Aug after the tenure of first one nominated on Dec 1, 2022, for 18 months was over. There are some conditions as per the HSGM Act, 2014, for a person to be elected as member of the committee, including that he/she should be an Amritdhari (initiated) Sikh, be able to read or write Punjabi in Gurmukhi script, not a “patit” who trims/shaves his beard or hair, not alcohol or intoxicant or halal meat consumer and not a paid servant of gurdwara and others. The candidates filing their nomination are required to deposit feet of Rs 5,000 to the returning officer before the last date of nomination. The polling will be conducted using the electronic voting machines (EVMs). There are a total of 41 wards in Haryana where elections would be held. After the Haryana assembly led by Congress govt with Bhupinder Singh Hooda as its chief minister passed Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (HSGMC) Act, 2014, on July 11, 2014, the HSGMC supporters had started a movement to take control of historical and other gurdwaras in the state. The HSGMC Act, 2014, was notified by Haryana legal and legislative department on July 14, 2014, the validity of which was challenged with a civil writ petition in the Supreme Court on Aug 6, 2014, by Harbhajan Singh Masanan, a Kurukshetra-based member of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), Amritsar. The top court had then stayed the matter with status quo. The SGPC had also filed a petition challenging the HSGMC Act We also published the following articles recently BJP nominates former NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma for Rajya Sabha from Haryana Rekha Sharma, former NCW Chairperson, has been nominated by the BJP for Haryana's Rajya Sabha seat. The election is scheduled for December 20, and Sharma is expected to win due to BJP's assembly majority. This seat became vacant after Krishan Lal Panwar resigned to contest the assembly elections. Sharma's Rajya Sabha term will be approximately four years. Voter list changes till Dec 23 for Haryana civic polls Gurgaon district administration has announced the schedule for finalizing the voter list for the upcoming municipal elections. Citizens can register, make corrections, or request deletions until December 23rd. A preliminary voter list will be available on December 17th for review. Sukhbir Badal continues services as 'sewadar' at Anandpur gurdwara Sukhbir Singh Badal, Shiromani Akali Dal leader, continued his religious service at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib amidst tight security, just two days after a foiled assassination attempt at the Golden Temple. Badal, performing 'seva' as part of a religious penance, was targeted by Narain Singh Chaura, a suspected Pakistan-trained terrorist with a history of militancy. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .

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Canada may have to spend millions more before new payment system can be usedChandigarh: Chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Tuesday criticised the Congress party and its leaders for their stance on the farmers and the propaganda related to the farmers’ stir. Interacting with the media persons after the filing of nomination papers by Rajya Sabha nominee Rekha Sharma, Saini said: “It’s really unfortunate that the Congress and other parties are doing politics in the name of the farmers.” Responding to the questions about the farmers’ agitation, the CM said as a son of a farmer, he understood their problems. He criticised the Congress and other opposition parties for politicising the farmers’ issues, calling it “unfortunate”. The CM also urged the opposition to refrain from engaging in politics in the name of farmers. Saini also accused the Congress of “spreading misinformation” that the BJP govt would abolish the minimum support price (MSP) for the crops. Contrary to this claim, the MSP is not being discontinued, but the Congress is losing the trust of the public, he said. We also published the following articles recently A farmers stir that does not have MSP at its core Noida farmers are locked in a protracted land dispute with authorities, demanding 10% of developed residential plots or equivalent compensation for land acquired since 1997. Despite court orders, agreements, and multiple committees, their demands remain unmet. 'All produce of farmers to be purchased at MSP': Shivraj Singh Chouhan Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pledged to procure all marketable surplus crops at MSP, extending beyond staples like paddy and wheat. This assurance follows Rahul Gandhi's demand for immediate implementation of farmers' demands, including a legal MSP guarantee. Haryana khap leaders respond to farmers march to Delhi: Demand unity among Punjab farmers Haryana's Khap leaders have expressed their willingness to join the farmers' protest march to Delhi, but only if the divided farmer groups, especially in Punjab, unify under the United Morcha (SKM). They stressed the need for a consolidated front to strengthen the movement and criticized the lack of prior communication. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , and Mini Crossword .

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Belarus grants asylum to fugitive Polish judge wanted on spying allegationsNew York District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued that Donald Trump ‘s conviction in his hush money case should not be dismissed, while proposing sentencing alternatives as the former president prepares to return to office. Trump and his legal team want the conviction tossed, citing a variety of factors including their claim that he is shielded by presidential immunity. But in his filing to Judge Juan Merchan, Bragg wrote that “no principle of immunity precludes further proceedings before [Trump’s] inauguration. And even if judgment has not been entered at the time of defendant’s inauguration, there is no legal barrier to deferring sentencing until after defendant’s term of office concludes.” That would be in 2029. “In either event, sentencing would serve the important purpose of deterring future crime,” Bragg wrote. Bragg also wrote that the court could follow an “abatement by death” context to end the proceedings without vacating the jury’s verdict or dismissing the indictment. He also wrote that limitations on future proceedings could address concerns about its potential interference in presidential decision-making. That includes assurances that Trump would not face incarceration. Bragg wrote that “many of defendant’s concerns stem from the possibility that he will face “potential incarceration” here. Here, however, because defendant has no priorcriminal convictions and was convicted of Class E felonies, this Court is not required to impose asentence of incarceration at all, and could even impose an unconditional discharge. ... The Court could therefore conclude that presidential immunity, while not requiring dismissal, nonetheless would require a non-incarceratory sentence in these circumstances. Such a constitutional limitation on the range of available sentences would further diminish any impact on defendant’s presidential decision-making without going so far as to discard the indictment and jury verdict altogether.” Trump was convicted in May of 34 felonies for falsifying business records related to the hush money payments made to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Merchan delayed Trump’s sentencing several times, and eventually put it on hold as the issue of whether to dismiss the conviction outright was argued by the prosecution and defense. Bragg wrote that there “are no grounds” for dismissing the case now, “prior to defendant’s inauguration, because President-elect immunity does not exist. And even after the inauguration, defendant’s temporary immunity as the sitting President will still not justify the extreme remedy of discarding the jury’s unanimous guilty verdict and wiping out the already-completed phases of this criminal proceeding.”

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Missing teen Lily Peppler found safe, police confirmA pair of scuffling teams looking to end losing streaks will meet on Sunday when the Indiana Pacers host the Washington Wizards. On the heels of their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 2014, the Pacers are in an early-season slump, as they've dropped three games in a row and five of six. Life on the road has been unkind to Indiana, which has started the season 2-8 away from Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Pacers, who begin a four-game homestand on Sunday, are coming off an 0-3 road trip, most recently falling to the Milwaukee Bucks 129-117 on Friday. Pascal Siakam's 25 points and Bennedict Mathurin's 20 weren't enough, as Giannis Antetokounmpo posted a triple-double with 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists for the Bucks, who never trailed. "I thought it was one of our most competitive games," Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle said. "We were up against it a lot of the night in terms of the scoring deficit, but the guys really were together. They kept fighting. We made some great runs in the second half, and it's something to build on, as tough as it's been. The important thing now is to keep working on our health and to have a big week back at home." Indiana's barrage of early-season injuries include forward Isaiah Jackson and center James Wiseman's season-ending Achilles tears. Aaron Nesmith (ankle), who averages 9.2 points per game, Andrew Nembhard (knee), who chips in 7.3, and Ben Sheppard (oblique), who adds 5.8, are all out for the Pacers. Siakam's 20.8 points per game lead the Pacers, followed by Mathurin's 18.9. Unlike Indiana, the Wizards entered the year projected to struggle mightily again. A season ago, Washington slugged through a franchise-worst 15-67 campaign. Through 14 games this season, the team is trending toward the league's basement again. On a 10-game losing streak, the Wizards haven't won since Oct. 30, a 133-120 home victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Last time out, Washington battled as a major underdog with the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics, before ultimately falling at home Friday, 108-96. The Wizards led by two at halftime and trailed by just four points with three minutes left. Jordan Poole led the way with 23 points, followed by Kyle Kuzma's 21. "Our guys, like I thought they would, came out and brought it," Washington head coach Brian Keefe said. "We were physical, we were committed, we tried to contest everything tonight, and I think I showed what we're capable of. That was a good step forward for our team, but we've got to get back to work tomorrow." The Wizards held Boston to just 42.4 percent shooting from the field (36 of 85) and just a 23.9 percent mark (11 of 46) on 3-pointers. Friday was a sign of improvement from a Washington team that has allowed a league-high 123.5 points per game. "I thought our defense was a lot better tonight," Keefe said. "You have to give Boston credit, they hit some tough shots, but our guys really showed their character." Poole's 21.2 points per game pace Washington, while Kuzma chips in 17.4. --Field Level MediaThese buy-rated ASX dividend stocks offer 4% to 7% yields

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