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By Martha McHardy
US News Reporter
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After Matt Gaetz withdrew from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general, questions are emerging about his possible future in Congress.
Immediately after Gaetz was announced as President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, he resigned his seat in the House of Representatives. He remains the Representative-elect for Florida's 1st Congressional District.
On Thursday, Gaetz withdrew from his attorney general nomination, saying it was "clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition."
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He had been the center of a probe into sexual allegations made against him. His withdrawal happened just a day after he visited Capitol Hill to press Senators to confirm him to the attorney general post.
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It was uncertain if Gaetz would make it through the confirmation process, with some Senate Republicans, including several in senior leadership, saying they believe there was no clear path for Gaetz.
Polling from Echelon Insights, conducted November 14 to November 18, also revealed that Gaetz was by far the least popular pick among American voters for Trump's Cabinet.
Amid his uncertain future, questions rose over whether Gaetz could return to Congress if he wasn't confirmed or if he withdrew.
Technically, it is possible that Gaetz could end up back in the House, Jon Parker, senior lecturer in American studies at Keele University in the U.K., told Newsweek.
"Legally, it is ambiguous because the right to resign isn't in the Constitution," he said. "It is conceivable that the House could refuse the resignation."
The lecturer suggested that Gaetz had resigned to block the publication of the investigation into him by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual abuse and illicit drug use. Gaetz has repeatedly denied all of those allegations.
The report still was not published after the committee chair said there was no agreement made in Wednesday's meeting to release it.
"He resigned to avoid the release of the ethics report on his activities, which would be highly damaging," Parker said. "The speaker, Mike Johnson, has seized upon that resignation as justification for halting the report, claiming it is only a rough draft. There is no way they will want Gaetz to return to the House, so it is almost certain that he will not return or have a legal case."
Preet Bharara, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, agreed, saying on the latest episode of his podcast Stay Tuned with Preet that if Gaetz returns to the House, the report will almost certainly come out.
"If he comes back the House, that sucker is coming out," he said, adding that the chances of Gaetz being able to return to the House are slim.
"Once he resigns his seat in Congress in the House of Representatives, he remains out of that office, he remains unemployed unless he can find another gig," he said.
But there could be an alternative path back to Congress for Gaetz, according to Bharara, who suggested that he could return as a senator if Marco Rubio is confirmed as secretary of state.
It is within the power of governors in 45 states, including Florida, to appoint someone to a vacant Senate seat as a temporary replacement, sothe Sunshine State's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who endorsed Trump after dropping out of the presidential primaries, could appoint Gaetz.
"It would be a highly controversial and very unlikely," Parker said. "DeSantis will choose a close ally or could even resign to allow the lieutenant governor to take his position and potentially appoint him to the seat."
Newsweek has contacted representatives of Gaetz and DeSantis for comment via email.
Gaetz withdrawal came after a source familiar with the situation told Newsweek that Vice President-elect JD Vance was making the rounds on Capitol Hill arranging meetings between key GOP senators and Gaetz to round up support.
Updated 11/21/2024 1:25 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to reflect that Gaetz has withdrawn from attorney general consideration.
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