Rep. Matt Gaetz is resigning from Congress, effective immediately, just hours after President-elect Donald Trump named the Republican firebrand as his selection for attorney general.
House Speaker Mike Johnson confirmed the news to reporters Wednesday night, saying that he hopes to have a replacement for his seat by Jan. 3.
“He issued his resignation letter effective immediately,” Johnson said. “That caught us by surprise a little bit.”
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The surprise resignation almost assuredly means the end of a long-running ethics probe into Gaetz’s alleged misconduct.
House Ethics Chair Michael Guest said earlier on Wednesday that if Gaetz is successfully approved as attorney general and leaves Congress for good, the committee will close its case.
This is because the ethics committee only has jurisdiction over sitting members of Congress, Guest told CNN Wednesday.
Sources later told Punchbowl News that Gaetz resigned only two days before the committee was scheduled to vote on releasing a “highly damaging” report based on their probe. CNN and Fox News later confirmed the vote’s timing.
The committee was restricted from releasing their findings too close to Florida’s primary election in August and the general election in November, CNN reported. It remains unclear whether the information will be made public after Gaetz’s resignation.
The Florida congressman has been under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper favors and obstructing investigations into his misconduct.
Gaetz has previously denied all of these allegations.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will now have to call for a special election to replace Gaetz, which could happen in as little as eight weeks.
“I’ve already placed a call to Governor DeSantis in Florida and said, ‘Let’s start the clock,’” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday.
Johnson said Gaetz had expressed concern over leaving his seat vacant for the incoming Congress. The House Speaker said Florida law will give them about eight weeks to fill Gaetz’s seat.
“If we start the clock now, if you do the math, we may be able to fill that seat as early as Jan. 3 when we take the new oath of office for the new Congress,” Johnson said.
Many members of Congress, including Guest, were taken aback to learn President-elect Donald Trump had picked Gaetz for the post Wednesday.
“You know, like most members, I was surprised. His name was not someone that I had heard come up previously,” the Mississippi Republican said. “But you know, like with any other Cabinet-level selection, there’ll be a confirmation process, and so if any of the senators have questions about his or any other Cabinet members’ ability to serve, those questions will be figured out during that confirmation process.”
Gaetz has spent years fighting with his colleagues in the House, leading the charge to oust Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Many of his colleagues expressed shock at his nomination on Wednesday, while others doubted he would make it through a confirmation hearing in the Senate.
