Perhaps he wasn’t certain the surprising news regarding his nomination by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as Attorney General in the incoming administration was sufficiently dramatic. (Or, perhaps, he’s thinking about the long game.) Whatever his thoughts, in another stunning turn, Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL) has formally resigned from Congress.
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The news comes just hours after the announcement of Gaetz’s nomination set the internet on fire. House Speaker Mike Johnson — just confirmed as the nominee to hold that position by conference vote Wednesday afternoon himself — shared the news of Gaetz’s resignation Wednesday evening.
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Johnson had this to say:
“Matt and I were classmates — we came to Congress at the same time in the 115th Congress in January 2017 — and alphabetically, we were seated right next to one another in Judiciary Committee; we served there together for seven years. Some of y’all who cover Judiciary know those are long meetings. So, I got to know Matt very well.
“Look, I’ll say this: Everyone who’s served with him will tell you he’s one of the most intelligent members of Congress. He’s an accomplished attorney. He’s very concerned about the lawfare that has been in the Department of Justice under the Biden administration — and the fact that the American people have lost their faith in our institutions of justice because of everything that we’ve seen. He’s a reformer in his mind and heart, and I think that he’ll bring a lot to the table on that.
“I think, out of deference to us, he issued his resignation letter effective immediately — of Congress. That caught us by surprise a little bit, but 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 eight-week period to select and fill a vacant seat.
“And so, by doing so today, that allows me — I’ve already placed a call to Governor DeSantis in Florida, and said, “Let’s start the clock.” He’s in Italy at the moment, and so we’re going to talk first thing in the morning about this. And if we start the clock now, if you do the math, we may be able to fill that seat as early as January 3rd, when we take the new oath of office for the new Congress. So, Matt would have done us a great service by making that decision as he did, on the fly, and so we’re grateful for that.
“So, we move forward. Look, I’ll say this about — people have asked me all day long, “Um, President Trump is poaching all your talent.” Yes, but we have an embarrassment of riches here — the Republican conference is full of talented people who are extraordinary leaders and have great expertise. And everyone in this…conference could serve in a leadership position in the administration….”
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So, with that, the clock starts ticking in Florida’s First Congressional District. Hopefully, the Florida GOP can move quickly and field a quality candidate to replace Gaetz. In the meantime, we’ll continue to hear all kinds of murmurs regarding his nomination, no doubt. Never a dull moment!