‘A new perch’: Trump loyalist Matt Gaetz confirms US Congress departure 

Former United States Congress member Matt Gaetz has confirmed he will not resume his seat in the House of Representatives, amid scrutiny over sex-trafficking allegations.

Gaetz had been President-elect Donald Trump’s first pick for the role of attorney general in his incoming administration.

But speaking on Friday to the conservative podcast The Charlie Kirk Show, Gaetz addressed his decision to withdraw his name from consideration, as controversy loomed over his nomination.

“I think that eight years is probably enough time in the United States Congress,” Gaetz said in the interview.

“I’m still going to be in the fight, but it’s going to be from a new perch. I do not intend to join the 119th Congress.”

Gaetz, the son of a former Florida state senator, had served as the US representative for Florida’s 1st Congressional District since 2017.

But on November 13, when Trump nominated him to lead the Department of Justice, Gaetz abruptly resigned his seat in Congress.

Critics pointed out that his resignation came just days before the bipartisan House Ethics Committee was slated to release a report digging into allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor, engaged in “illicit drug use” and “shared inappropriate images or videos on the House floor”.

Gaetz has denied the allegations. But his departure from the House threw the report into limbo, as prominent Republicans argued the committee was only tasked with investigating active members.

Democrats, meanwhile, argued the report’s publication was necessary to ensure a transparent and fully informed confirmation process in the Senate.

On Wednesday, the committee voted along party lines to withhold the report. By the following day, however, Gaetz announced he would no longer be seeking the attorney general’s position in Trump’s administration.

He explained his nomination was “unfairly becoming a distraction” to the goals of the Trump presidency.

In Friday’s interview, Gaetz put a positive spin on his brief but fraught nomination.

“I know there are people disappointed that I won’t be the next attorney general. But you have to understand: This is the political process, and sometimes the path you’re on is one that takes you to a different place, and it can be a glorious place,” he said.

He added that he “enjoyed” his meeting with Republican senators earlier this week, as they discussed the ethics report. Still, he denied that the report played a role in his decision to abandon the confirmation process.

“There is a play that is run in Washington when they’re trying to smear somebody. They go and dredge up false, years-old allegations of the most salacious and clickbaity flavour possible,” Gaetz said.

“If the things that the House ethics report [said] were true, I would be under indictment and probably in a prison cell. But, of course, they’re false.”

He cited his leading role in the removal of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in 2023 as stirring up animosity against him. With all the controversy and internal party tensions he faced, Gaetz described his brief stint as the attorney general nominee as akin to “having to do two jobs at one time”.

“I had a full-time job explaining to senators that maybe a tweet I said about them was rash and not reflective of how I would serve as attorney general,” Gaetz said.

“And at the same time, I was having to build out the Department of Justice with the right human talent, the right policy infrastructure.”

One prominent question remained, though: Would Gaetz resume his seat in the House of Representatives?

After all, Gaetz had already won re-election on November 5, making him eligible to join the 119th Congress when it gets sworn in early next year. Kirk, the podcast host and prominent conservative activist, put the question to Gaetz.

“I’ve been in an elected office for 14 years. I first got elected to the state House when I was 26 years old,” Gaetz responded. “I’m 42 now, and I’ve got some other goals in life that I’m eager to pursue.”

He nevertheless underscored his commitment to being part of Trump’s “America First army”.

On Thursday, Trump quickly replaced Gaetz as his attorney general nominee with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, another longtime ally.

On Friday, Gaetz emphasised that he and Bondi shared the same vision, and he was delighted a fellow Floridian would be his replacement.

“My good friend Pam Bondi is going to be a phenomenal attorney general for Donald Trump,” he said.

“She has the legal acumen. She hates criminals. She is a bright legal mind and a fellow Floridian. I think that, even though the path will take me to a different station in life and a different place in the fight for our agenda and President Trump, we’ve got a great person in place.”