House Speaker Mike Johnson announced Wednesday night that Rep. Matt Gaetz has issued his resignation from Congress "effective immediately" after President-elect Donald Trump nominated him to be attorney general in the second Trump administration.
"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 Gov. DeSantis in Florida and said let’s start the clock," Johnson said in a statement, according to The Hill.
Trump wrote in a Wednesday afternoon announcement, "It is my Great Honor to announce that Congressman Matt Gaetz, of Florida, is hereby nominated to be The Attorney General of the United States."
"Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice. Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System."
"Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” the statement continued. “On the House Judiciary Committee, which performs oversight of DOJ, Matt played a key role in defeating the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, and exposing alarming and systemic Government Corruption and Weaponization."
