Matt Gaetz said Friday that he will not be returning to Congress removing the name For being President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.
In an interview with conservative commentator Charlie Kirk “Real America’s Voice”, Gaetz said he will “still be fighting but it will be from a new perch.”
“I have no plans to join the 119th Congress,” he said. “There are so many fantastic Floridians who have stepped up to run for my seat, people who have inspired me with their heroism, their public service. And frankly, I’m excited to see the Northwest. Florida go to new levels and have a great representation.”
Questions flowed The future of Gaets after withdrawing his confirmation bid on Thursday amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Gaetz has long denied the allegations, the subject of a federal investigation that has ended without charges, a House Ethics Committee investigation that was in its final stages when Gaetz resigned last week.
Rep. Matt Gaetz leaves after speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2024, at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland on February 23, 2024.
Alex Brandon/AP
While Gaetz resigned from the 118th Congress within hours of his chance to serve in the Trump administration, he won re-election to serve in the 119th Congress beginning in January.
Gaetz has been elected for 14 years, including eight years in the Capitol, and has “other goals in life” he wants to achieve.
“I will fight for President Trump. I will do everything he asks of me, as I have always done,” Gaetz said. “But I think, probably, eight years will be enough in the Congress of the United States.”
Gaetz also praised Pam Bondi, whom Trump quickly tapped to lead the Justice Department Thursday afternoon pending Senate confirmation.
Asked what happened to Kirk that caused him to back away from consideration, Gaetz said it wasn’t about the allegations or the House Ethics Committee report, which Democrats are still pushing for his firing.
Gaetz blamed the unsuccessful nomination on efforts to unseat former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, suggesting too many lawmakers had an “axe to grind.”
“There were senators who didn’t get a pass,” Gaetz acknowledged, though he argued that he could influence lawmakers to support him.
“I could have been involved in a month-long fight,” he said. “But we don’t have a month to do that.”
“It was a matter of pace more than anything,” Gaetz said, “and the pace would have been too long for me and with someone like Pam who we can put in that spot, we’re going to be much more successful as an administration.”
