Hours after Donald Trump announced he was nominating him to be his attorney general, Republican Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress so that his House seat can be quickly filled, House Speaker Mike Johnson revealed Wednesday.
“That caught us by surprise a little bit,” Johnson said of the resignation at a press conference. “I asked him what the reasoning was, and he said, ‘Well, you can’t have too many absences, so under Florida state law there’s about an 8-week period to select and fill a vacant seat.’”
Gaetz’s strategic resignation comes as the chamber’s leadership raises concerns about how many House Republicans Trump is plucking for cabinet nominations, temporarily slimming down what’s expected to be a slim GOP majority in the chamber.
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“He’s already pulled a few really talented people out of the House. Hopefully, no more for a little while until special elections can come,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said at a Capitol Hill press conference.
While every state holds a special election when House seats need to be filled, the timing varies from state to state. Florida law allows Gov. Ron DeSantis to quickly call a special election, potentially allowing Gaetz’s replacement to be seated before the start of the next Congress on Jan. 3.
But the replacement process could drag on in other states, weakening the GOP’s power in the House. In New York, it could take up to 90 days for Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to the United Nations, to be replaced with a special election.
Gaetz’s resignation also ends the House Ethics Committee investigation into his alleged misconduct, including accusations of sex trafficking.
Punchbowl News, citing sources familiar with the investigation, reported that Gaetz’s resignation comes just two days before that committee was going to vote on releasing a “highly damaging” report outlining its probe into him.
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Several Capitol Hill Republicans have raised serious doubts about Gaetz mustering up enough support for a Senate confirmation. Most asked by HuffPost avoided saying whether they would support his nomination.
Others were more blunt. Trump ally Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) told Politico that Gaetz was “a reckless pick” with “a zero percent shot of getting through the Senate.”