As Matt Gaetz faces uncertainty over his nomination for U.S. attorney general, questions are emerging about his 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 despite still requiring confirmation from the Senate to serve in the Cabinet.
It is uncertain if Gaetz will make it through the confirmation process, with some Senate Republicans, including several in senior leadership, believing there is no clear path for Gaetz. Other lawmakers, such as Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, have expressed concern over Trump's decision to nominate Gaetz.
Polling from Echelon Insights, conducted November 14 to 18, also revealed that Gaetz is by far the least popular pick among American voters for Trump's Cabinet.
Amid his uncertain future, questions are arising over whether Gaetz could go back to Congress if the Senate doesn't vote to confirm him. 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."
But he said that Gaetz resigned to block the publication of the investigation into him by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual abuse and illicit drug use, allegations he denies. 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 anyway
"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, so 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.
However, it is still possible that Gaetz could become attorney general. Trump has floated the idea of using a recess appointment, allowing Gaetz to bypass the Senate.
"Any Republican Senator seeking the coveted LEADERSHIP position in the United States Senate must agree to Recess Appointments (in the Senate!), without which we will not be able to get people confirmed in a timely manner," Trump posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
But Republican Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota has already suggested he does not support this move.
"I just think it'd be unwise to do that if he can't get the votes of the majority party, which is his party," he told Fox News. "If...it's one thing if the minority party objects or obstructs in some manner using the tools that they have, then I think, you know, with our cooperation, you could, you could do that. I think it'd be a little unwise to have us, without our cooperation, to cooperate in a recess appointment."
But other Republicans have come out in support of Trump using recess appointments.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell faced backlash after he was alleged to have warned Trump's team: "There will be no recess appointments," during a meeting in Washington. The claim was reportedly made by The New Yorker staff writer Jane Mayer in a since-deleted post on X.
In response, Florida Senator Rick Scott posted: "Yes, there will be." Utah Senator Mike Lee added: "Remember that time when McConnell decided he wouldn't be speaking for Senate Republicans anymore?"
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, a Trump loyalist, has also said that confirming the president-elect's nominees "should be a no-brainer" during a Wednesday appearance on ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon's War Room podcast. The senator suggested he would vote to confirm Gaetz unless critics prove that he is "a criminal."
"[Republicans are] not gonna take 'no' from any of these Democrats. We're in charge," Tuberville said. "It's like this Matt Gaetz and [secretary of defense nominee] Pete Hegseth. All these people that are being nominated, hey, it should be a no-brainer. Prove to me he's a criminal. If you do, I won't vote for him. And until then, he's in."
A source familiar with the situation told Newsweek that Vice President-elect JD Vance is making the rounds on Capitol Hill this week, arranging meetings between key GOP senators and Gaetz to round up support.
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