Matt Gaetz resigns from Congress following attorney general pick

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday evening that Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz will be resigning from Congress “effective immediately,” following President-elect Donald Trump picking him for attorney general.

The former president took to Truth Social, announcing he would be appointing Gaetz as his choice for attorney general, stating he is a “deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law,” who will be seeking an end to “weaponized government.” Johnson spoke to the press, confirming he had received Gaetz’s resignation and highlighting his accomplishments within Congress.

“Everyone who served with him will tell you he’s one of the most intelligent members of Congress. He’s an accomplished attorney,” Johnson said. “He’s very concerned about the lawfare that has been occurring 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 from Congress,” Johnson added.

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The House Speaker also noted that, despite the surprise departure of the Florida representative, it would help speed up the process of filling the vacant House seat and prevent any impact on the GOP’s narrow lead.

“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,” Johnson said.

“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. 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 oath of office for the new Congress,” Johnson continued.

House Republicans currently hold a slim lead over Democrats, with GOP lawmakers occupying 217 seats compared to the Democrats’ 208, with 10 yet to be called.

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