Matt Gaetz is out of the running for attorney general. He also no longer has a job on Capitol Hill. In Washington and Tallahassee, the question now is: Could he be back in the House of Representatives in January?
The Florida Republican has both resigned from his current term and preemptively ended his term in the next Congress, which he just won in the November elections.
“I do not intend to be sworn in to the same office in the 119th Congress,” he wrote in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson, which was also forwarded to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
One thing is clear: he cannot come back for this congress. But if Gaetz wanted to return to Capitol Hill in January and serve in the seat his Florida voters elected him to in November, the Hill appears willing to hand that decision over to DeSantis and Florida’s Secretary of State, Cord Byrd.
A congressional aide indicated that Gaetz’s status as a member of the 119th Congress is in fact dependent on his home state, telling POLITICO: “The official list for the 119th Congress will be prepared using the states’ certificates of election received.”
The names Florida provided of candidates “regularly elected” to the House of Representatives under state and federal law will be eligible to take their seats in January, the aide continued.
Gaetz hasn’t said publicly yet what he wants to do. And he did not respond to questions from POLITICO about what his future might hold.
But if he wants to return to the Hill, he could argue that his claim that he will not serve in the new Congress could be conditional: He specified that he would not take the oath “to pursue the position of attorney general in Congress.” to strive’. Trump Administration,” which is now off the table.
This could put a spotlight on DeSantis — and Byrd, his appointee — on how they want to handle it. Notably, no special election has yet been scheduled to fill Gaetz’s seat.
Gaetz once had close ties to DeSantis and played a key role on his first transition team in 2018. But Gaetz remained loyal to Trump during DeSantis’ bid for the presidency — and that changed the relationship.
Gaetz could potentially take his seat as normal, as if his firing never happened. Or that special election could still happen — but nothing would stop Gaetz from running if he wanted to return to Washington.
It is also possible that his political future does not lie in the House of Representatives. Trump’s decision to choose Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state will allow DeSantis to appoint someone to that sweet spot for the next two years, until the 2026 elections. DeSantis said he plans to start in January to appoint a successor.
Gaetz is not considered a likely candidate for the open Senate seat, but some of his allies have already targeted him. And Gaetz has long been rumored to be considering a 2026 governorship, with DeSantis serving a term-limited run.
When reached by phone, Don Gaetz, a Florida state senator and Matt Gaetz’s father, said he had not had a “substantial conversation” with his son following his decision to withdraw his bid for attorney general and that he didn’t know if he would try to return. to Congress. He added: “I love my son and I am proud of him.”
Several candidates had already announced their intention to run in the younger Gaetz’s 1st District, a safe Republican seat. But they can show him respect.
Republican state Rep. Michelle Salzman, who had already announced a run, told POLITICO after the news broke that she immediately contacted Gaetz to tell him she would “completely support whatever he wants” and “absolutely” withdraw from the race would withdraw if Gaetz wanted to. to return to Congress.
Other Republicans who filed for office or said they planned to include state Rep. Joel Rudman and Bernadette Pittman, the owner and CEO of Boots on the Ground Bikers for Trump. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis had also considered running, which would require DeSantis to name his replacement.
