Matt Gaetz Done in Congress After Attorney General Whiff

Now-former Representative Matt Gaetz is done with his career in the U.S. House of Representatives in light of a failed attempt to become the United States Attorney General, he confirmed this week. Gaetz resigned after being announced as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for the Attorney General job, a highly controversial and surprising selection. “I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz said. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.” Also relevant to Gaetz’s decision is a series of accusations that he paid for sex and slept with a minor as recently as 2017, a scandal that’s placed him at the center of an investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Gaetz’s speedy resignation from his House seat limited the jurisdiction of House investigators to continue their inquiry and eventually their findings. Ever since the accusations became public, Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing. Still, Trump’s decision to pitch him for a top federal role has placed his alleged crimes back into the center of the national news cycle, reigniting controversy for a man who was already one of the most polarizing members of the House. Gaetz dropped his bid for Attorney General as his sex scandal cast doubt over whether or not he could be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, even with a majority of Republicans in Congress’ upper house. He already resigned before giving up his confirmation hopes, but still had the chance to rejoin Congress by virtue of having won the 2024 election and having not yet begun a term he’d already won. Therefore, his resignation was only pertinent to his current term, which ends in January. Gaetz said in an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk that would not take advantage of his opportunity to rejoin Congress. A special election will be held to decide who represents Florida’s 1st congressional district until early 2027. Trump’s new pick for Attorney General is Pam Bondi, who served as Florida Attorney General from 2011 to 2019 under Gov. Rick Scott. Gaetz’s FL-1 district is still likely to remain under Republican control pending the results of the upcoming special election. As of February 2024, Republicans accounted for 53.8% of the district’s voter registration. Gaetz won his first congressional race in 2016 with 69.1% of the vote, and has been re-elected four times with over 60.0% of the vote each time.