Trump cabinet update: Hours after Matt Gaetz dropped his nomination for Attorney General, President-elect Donald Trump selected former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi for the role. Read more here.
It is unlikely that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) will be sworn in to the 119th Congress on Jan. 3, 2025, despite his decision to end his bid for Attorney General on Nov. 21.
Shortly after accepting President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination, pending Senate approval, Gaetz submitted his resignation letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
However, in the Nov. 13 letter, Gaetz added his intention not to take the oath of office next year, despite winning a decisive reelection victory Nov. 5.
Gaetz sent a similar letter to Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis, who then called for Secretary of State Cord Byrd to begin preparation for a special election. No date has been called for that election.
Several candidates have already begun to emerge to take the seat, including Florida State Rep. Michelle Salzman, former Green Beret John Frankman, former army pilot Keith Gross. All three are veterans.
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Democrat Gay Valimont lost to Gaetz on Nov. 5 and is using the opportunity to try again.
It is unclear whether or not Gaetz would be able to retract his intention not to take the oath of office and uphold his reelection victory, or if he could or would attempt to reclaim it by running in the special election.
There is also speculation that DeSantis could appoint the now-free Gaetz to the Senate, filling Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat if the Senate approves him as Trump’s Secretary of State.
Gross called for the appointment on X. “I was really looking forward to seeing AG @mattgaetz crack heads at the Justice Dept,” he said. “Now that he is free: Matt Gaetz for Senate! Put Matt in @SenMarcoRubio‘s seat, and we’ll have a reliable vote to confirm Trump’s appointments.”
Gaetz’s departure comes as he is being investigated by the House Ethics Committee regarding accusations of sexual misconduct. The committee announced on Nov. 20 that it will not release its final report on the investigation for the time being.
It is unclear if this investigation could resurface if Gaetz returns to Congress next year.
The Epoch Times has reached out to both Gaetz’s office and Florida’s secretary of state for clarification on the House seat situation.
—T.J. Muscaro
BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BATTLE LOOMS
President-elect Donald Trump could prompt the Supreme Court to issue another landmark precedent—this time over how the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees citizenship for certain individuals.
The 14th Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.”
Some have interpreted this provision as applying to the children of illegal immigrants. In Trump’s second term, he could provoke a legal battle by implementing policy that interprets the amendment in a different way.
The Supreme Court, if it takes up such a challenge, would likely revisit its decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark when it held that the 14th Amendment granted birthright citizenship to a Chinese man whose parents were legally present in the United States.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative non-profit, has pushed back on the idea that this decision meant children of illegal immigrants received birthright citizenship. Lora Ries, who works at Heritage and served in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that Trump could pursue policies on birthright citizenship at DHS and the State Department.
Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Election Commission member who works at Heritage, said in 2018: “The Court only held that a child born of lawful, permanent residents was a U.S. citizen. That is a far cry from saying that a child born of individuals who are here illegally must be considered a U.S. citizen.”
Others disagreed. The American Civil Liberties Union said: “Theories that attempt to carve children out of this guarantee [of citizenship] based on the immigration status of their parents are legally wrong, morally repugnant, and dangerous attacks on a core civil right.”
Judge James Ho, who serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, could be one of Trump’s next nominees for the Supreme Court. He has argued that under Wong Kim Ark and the 14th Amendment, children of illegal immigrants had birthright citizenship.
In November, an interview with him raised questions about whether that constitutional provision would apply to the recent wave of migrants at the southern border. Ho told South Texas College of Law Professor Josh Blackman that “birthright citizenship obviously doesn’t apply in case of war or invasion.”
Trump himself has described the situation at the southern border as an invasion. On Nov. 18, he posted “True!!” on social media in response to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton referring to “reports” that “the incoming @RealDonaldTrump administration prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”
—Sam Dorman
BOOKMARKS
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz has withdrawn from consideration for attorney general in President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration, one day after the House Ethics Committee said it will not release the contents of an investigation related to him. Gaetz had been under investigation by the Department of Justice for charges of sex trafficking, but the agency dropped that inquiry without charging him last year.
FEMA Director Deanne Criswell said that the agency has spent more than $8 billion on relief related to hurricanes Milton and Helene, leaving only $5 billion in its disaster relief fund. President Joe Biden has already urged Congress to throw another $40 billion FEMA’s way as part of the $100 billion in emergency disaster relief he requested on Monday.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) will be chair of the House subcommittee with oversight of the newly-minted Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE, which will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to complete its work before it “sunsets” on July 4, 2026.
Bucks County Commissioner Diane Ellis-Marseglia has apologized for remarks she made last week when saying she intended to illegally count undated ballots, in defiance of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Having previously said that court precedent “doesn’t matter anymore,” she backtracked, saying: “The passion in my heart got the best of me … I will be more clear in the future.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she has a plan in place to receive illegal immigrants being deported from the United States, and that her cabinet is preparing to “have this conversation with President Trump’s team.” However, she also wants to demonstrate “that our nationals who are on the other side of the border do not have to be deported, as they actually benefit the U.S. economy.”
—Stacy Robinson
