The Western wing-run House, Senate vacancies spotlight special elections

President-elect Donald Trump’s decision to select at least three members of the House and at least one senator to serve in his administration will set up special elections, adding an element of uncertainty to closely divided chambers.

The nomination of three-term Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to be secretary of state will first provide an opportunity for GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint a new senator. According to the Congressional Research Service, the senator-designate would serve through the next general election.

The nomination would set up a special election in 2026, with Rubio’s current term set to run through 2028. Thus, DeSantis could name a placeholder or a senator who would seek to run for the special election in the final two years of the term.

DeSantis, who ran in the presidential primary against Trump this cycle, already getting public calls from supporters by the 45th and 47th presidents to appoint Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump, the president-elect’s daughter-in-law, to the Rubio seat. Among her advocates is Alabama Republican Senator Katie Britt. Other candidates include James Uthmeier, who is DeSantis’ chief of staff, and Florida Lt. Govt. Jeanette Nuñez.

In Ohio, when Republican Sen. JD Vance leaves his seat to become vice president, GOP Gov. Mike DeWine will be able to name a replacement to serve until the next general election in 2026. The full term of Vance’s seat is up in 2028 , according to the CRS.

At least three special house elections

Governors cannot make open house appointments to fill seats, although they can schedule special elections to fill vacancies.

Florida GOP Rep. Michael Waltz is the president-elect’s choice to be national security adviser. Since it is a senior position in the White House and not subject to the Senate confirmation process, Waltz is likely to leave the House no later than the start of the new administration. And with Trump tapping Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general, it would create two Republican positions in the Florida House.

DeSantis showed little urgency in calling a special election to fill the vacancy created by Democratic Rep. Alcee L. Hastings death in April 2021 (in a safe district for Democrats). The special general election was so late that the seat was open for nine months. It’s unlikely that DeSantis would allow so much time to go by calling a special election to replace two GOP members.

Indeed, Gaetz tendered his resignation from the House on Wednesday, allowing DeSantis to call a special election on short notice and possibly have a new member sworn in shortly after the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., explained at a news conference after the House GOP leadership election: “Out of respect for us, he issued his letter of resignation, effective immediately, from Congress. It surprised us a little bit, but I asked him what the reason was, and he said: ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences.’ So under Florida state law, there’s about an eight-week window to elect and fill a vacancy, and so by doing that today, it gives me the opportunity to — I’ve already called Governor DeSantis in Florida and said, “Let’s start the clock.”

“He’s in Italy at the moment and so we won’t talk about this until tomorrow morning. … So Matt would have done us a huge favor by making the decision that he did in a hurry and we’re grateful for that . So we move on.”

Gaetz’s resignation also ends an ethics committee investigation because the committee has no jurisdiction over former members. Over the summer, the panel said it reviewed allegations that Gaetz may have “engaged in sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, accepted inappropriate gifts, extended special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and attempted to obstruct government investigations into his conduct.”

“It’s true that a former member of Congress, the House Ethics Committee would have no additional jurisdiction over the person, no additional authority over them. So it wouldn’t be unprecedented, but as far as the timing of a release of a report or something, I don’t know. The Speaker of the House is not involved in that. So I’m not really the person to answer that question,” Johnson said when asked about the ethics investigation.

In New York, House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik is Trump’s intended candidate for ambassador to the United Nations. There is no indication yet as to when she would leave the house. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, has little discretion in setting special election dates when the seat becomes vacant.

Hochul would have a 10-day deadline to call the special election, which must be between 70 and 80 days after that. The exact timing of the special election will depend on when Stefanik is confirmed by the Senate.

In New York, involved county parties choose their nominees in special elections instead of primaries.

Jacob Fulton contributed to this report.