Matt Gaetz says he isn't coming back to Congress

One day after withdrawing from consideration as Donald Trump’s attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz said he’s done with Congress.

“I'm still going to be in the fight, but it's going to be from a new perch,” Gaetz told Charlie Kirk on his radio show Friday. “I do not intend to join the 119th Congress."

Gaetz, first elected to his House seat in 2016, has been a nuisance to his party’s leadership throughout his time in Washington, though he’s cultivated and maintained a close rapport with Trump.

The Florida firebrand — a moniker he named his podcast after — led the successful charge to dethrone former Speaker Kevin McCarthy from his perch atop the House Republican Conference. He’s drawn ire from House Republicans and Democrats alike, few of whom have a positive word to say about his style or substance.

"I'm gonna be fighting for President Trump,” Gaetz said to Kirk. “I'm gonna be doing whatever he asks of me, as I always have. But I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress.”

A key unanswered question is what happens to a looming House Ethics Committee report on Gaetz over alleged sexual misconduct with underage women. The committee deadlocked this week on whether to release its findings on the Florida Republican, vowing to meet again in December on the matter.

The Justice Department also investigated Gaetz over the sexual misconduct allegations, but closed its probe without filing formal charges. Gaetz has always maintained he did nothing wrong.

Gaetz’s political career is likely not over, however. He could still join the Trump administration in a role that doesn’t need Senate confirmation — or run for office again in his home state.

He’s been something of an enigma within the modern Republican Party, urging action to address climate change and legalize recreational marijuana, but also raising eyebrows from his colorful personal life. Gaetz introduced the world in 2020 to his “adopted son” Nestor Galban — through whose financial payment platform accounts he allegedly paid women for sexual encounters (which he denies).

Gaetz resigned from Congress immediately upon being tapped by Trump for his administration, earlier this month, but he also won reelection in November to his seat for the next Congress — leaving an open question, and potential thorny legal issues, on if he could return next year. Florida will have to schedule a special election to replace him next year, but hasn’t announced the dates yet. Several people have already filed to run.

Some Gaetz allies have floated the idea of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointing Gaetz to the Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio, who is expected to be confirmed easily as secretary of State. Gaetz and DeSantis were once close, and Gaetz played a key role in the governor’s transition in 2018. But Gaetz’s loyalty in the presidential election fell to Trump in 2024 when DeSantis himself ran for the job, and he’s not considered a likely contender for the soon-to-be open seat.

Gaetz has long expressed interest in running for governor someday, and DeSantis is set to term limit out in 2026. Gaetz was at the Capitol in Tallahassee at the end of the 2024 session and evaded questions about his interest in the job, saying he was focused on his role in Washington.

“I would definitely enjoy that job so much,” Gaetz told Donald Trump Jr. and his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, last year during a livestream, referring to the Florida governor’s mansion. “I would never leave it if I ever got that opportunity.”

Gaetz never faced a difficult congressional race in the deep-red district he represents, and several other top Florida Republicans have expressed interest in running for governor in 2026, including Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody; Florida Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nuñez; Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis; and Rep. Byron Donalds. Gaetz’s father, Don Gaetz, just won a seat to the state Senate and used to be president of the Florida Senate.

Gaetz’s wife, Ginger, has been leaving cryptic posts on X about what’s next, writing on Friday that “Unemployment has never looked so good,” while posting a picture of her husband next to a cocktail at a bar. When someone asked what they were up to, she posted a GIF that read, “Keep guessing.”