Could Matt Gaetz Get His House Seat Back?

On November 22, 2024By Littum

Upper line

The former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigned from his House post last week after President-elect Donald Trump selected him as attorney general — but Gaetz withdrew as the nominee Thursday, leaving the right-wing firebrand’s future in doubt.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., resigns after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, … (+) CPAC 2024, at National Harbor, in Oxon Hill, Md., on February 23, 2024.

Key facts

Gaetz almost immediately resigned from Congress after the nod (despite the fact that he was re-elected earlier this month), just days before a report from the House Ethics Committee was supposed to be released about sexual misconduct and allegations against him.

Gaetz specifically stated in his termination letter that he “had no intention of taking the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress,” which Notre Dame law professor Derek T. Muller said on X Thursday is “enough to trigger a vacancy” for the seat Gaetz won re-election under House precedent.

Because Gaetz resigned from Congress, his seat must be filled through a special election in Florida, according to the constitutionmeaning he cannot simply repeat his seat in Parliament or be appointed to the seat.

After Gaetz resigned, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he worked to announce a schedule for the special election immediately.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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Crucial quote

After Gaetz resigned, Trump published on Truth Social said Gaetz was “feeling very good, but at the same time he didn’t want to be a distraction to the administration that he has a lot of respect for.” Trump continued: “Matt has a wonderful future and I look forward to seeing all the great things he will do!”

Could Matt Gaetz Run For His Own House Seat?

Gaetz – who won re-election in his Florida congressional district with 66.3% of the vote—could probably run for his own seat again in a special election. Jonathan Hanson, a professor at the University of Michigan’s Ford School of Public Policy, told Forbes that he believes Gaetz would not have a problem running again because there is nothing in Florida law that prohibits the person who who left the seat to become a party’s candidate in a special election.

When will an election be held for Gaetz’s seat?

Florida law does not explicitly set a timeline for filling a vacancy, although House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said after Gaetz’s resignation that there is “about an eight-week period to elect and fill a vacancy” in Florida, and he hoped Gaetz’s absence could be filled on Jan. 3, when the next Congress is sworn in .

Could Ron Desantis Appoint Matt Gaetz to the Senate?

“Senator Gaetz” was trending on Xformerly known as Twitter, within minutes of Gaetz announcing he would remove himself from consideration for attorney general. A Florida Senate seat is likely to be open for appointment by DeSantis since Trump announced he is nominating Sen. Marco Rubio to be Secretary of State. DeSantis could technically appoint Gaetz to that seat since he has no current role in Congress, but DeSantis said on Monday, he “has already received significant interest from several possible candidates and we are continuing to collect names of additional candidates and conduct a preliminary investigation.” He said the investigation would continue through the coming weeks, and he expects a selection to be made in early January.

What will happen to the House Ethics Report?

It is not clear. The House Ethics Committee was deadlocked Wednesday over whether to release the much-sought-after report on its investigation into whether Gaetz engaged in sexual misconduct and other allegations. The report could be released despite the committee not voting when two Democratic representatives filed a “privileged” motion to force the report’s release. Since Gaetz is not running for attorney general, however, it is unclear whether other lawmakers will continue to push for the contents of the report to be made public. Hanson told Forbes that if Gaetz is re-elected to fill his own vacancy, the push to release it could continue. “It’s not clear exactly what the ethics committee will do, but any return of Gaetz to Congress exposes him to the possibility that the case against him will continue,” he said.

Key background

Gaetz was recognized as one of Trump’s more controversial nominations for his cabinet, with some Republican senators criticizing the choice. Late. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said she doesn’t think Trump’s pick is “a serious nomination for attorney general,” and Rep. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, responded: “Are you screwing me?” asked about the nomination, according to HuffPost. Gaetz began serving in Congress in 2017 and made a name for himself as a staunch Trump supporter, supporting the then-president’s claims that the 2020 election was rigged and invokes a Proud Boys slogan in support of Trump. Gaetz became the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation by the Justice Department over allegations that he had sex with minors and violated sex-trafficking laws by paying for sex, though it ultimately declined to prosecute him. The House Ethics Committee then investigated Gaetz in the case, also investigating him for illegal drug use, accepting inappropriate gifts and giving special privileges to friends. Gaetz has denied all charges.