Now that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) has withdrawn from consideration to be President-elect Trump’s attorney general, questions are swirling about whether he will return to the House — or if he even can.
House rules and precedents and the manner in which Gaetz resigned mean he will not be coming back before the end of the year. But whether he can return next year — if he wants to — is unclear.
Here are the House rules, precedents and dynamics at play.
Gaetz cannot come back this year
Gaetz abruptly resigned from the House last week, the same day Trump announced Gaetz as his pick for attorney general.
He cannot return for the 118th Congress, which will last through the end of the year, according to written precedents under which the House operates: “The resignation of a Member from the House … ordinarily may not be withdrawn.”
Unclear whether he can unilaterally return in 2025
Gaetz this month was reelected to represent Florida’s 1st Congressional District for the 119th Congress, which starts Jan. 3.
While rare, there is precedent for a member-elect resigning a seat before taking the oath of office.
But Gaetz’s resignation letter left some wiggle room that raises questions about whether he did in fact resign, and whether he can unilaterally decide to return for the 119th Congress.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” Gaetz said in his communication to the House when he resigned his seat last week.
The question is whether stating his intention to not take the seat amounts to a resignation. Now that he is no longer pursuing the attorney general position, his intentions may change.
Some congressional sources believe Gaetz’s careful wording means he can decide to return and take the oath of office on Jan. 3, but other procedural observers are not so sure.
Another complicating factor is that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week said he instructed the Florida secretary of state to “formulate and announce a schedule for the upcoming special elections” to fill Gaetz’s seat for the 119th Congress. Several candidates announced bids to replace Gaetz.
There had not, however, been a date or schedule announced for that special election. The Florida secretary of state’s office did not immediately return The Hill’s inquiry about the special election’s status, or the prospect of Gaetz returning to the seat.
Gaetz could run in a special election
If determined that Gaetz would not be able to decide himself to return for the 119th Congress, he could also run in the special election to fill the seat — and he’d have a good chance at winning.
Gaetz easily won a primary against a challenger supported by allies of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whom Gaetz ousted by triggering a “motion to vacate.”
Gaetz received more than 70 percent of the vote in that primary — despite an outside PAC spending millions on brutal ads that brought up allegations of Gaetz paying for sex through a now-convicted former friend. Gaetz has vigorously denied allegations of wrongdoing, and the Department of Justice declined to charge him after investigating related matters.
Not clear if Gaetz wants to return to the House
While Washington and political observers wonder if Gaetz can return to the House, it is not clear if he even wants to.
His wife, Ginger Gaetz, reposted his statement on social platform X about withdrawing from attorney general consideration with a photo of the two on the Capitol steps, saying: “The end of an era.”
Being back in the House would also mean the House Ethics Committee would again have jurisdiction over him — and nullify arguments from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) that it is not appropriate to release an Ethics Committee report on a former member.
Many Republicans believed Gaetz resigned his seat in order to stop the report from coming out, despite Johnson saying the reasoning was to quickly fill the seat and lessen the impact of being one member down in a slim House GOP majority.
The panel investigated Gaetz on and off for years over allegations of sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, and other matters, which Gaetz has denied.
It is not clear what the Florida lawmaker does next, but Gaetz has plenty of options aside from returning to the House. Those include Trump appointing him to a position that does not require Senate confirmation, exploring a run for governor of Florida, or even launching a media career.
Mychael Schnell and Julia Manchester contributed.