Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week he won’t appoint a sitting member from Florida’s U.S. House delegation to the soon-to-be vacant U.S. Senate seat because of the Republicans’ slim majority.
The second-term Republican governor and former congressman said someone will be ready to go as soon as Sen. Marco Rubio resigns his seat to become the new secretary of state for the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump’s appointments that created two vacant House seats in strong Republican districts which won’t be filled until April 1, when the special elections take place.
Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has already resigned his seat in the 1st Congressional District, an election he won Nov. 5, despite deciding not to pursue confirmation as the nation’s attorney general. Trump replaced him with former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.
U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, represents the 6th Congressional District in east-central Florida and has been tapped to be Trump’s national security advisor. He remains in the House, though he has not voted on bills since opening day Jan. 3.
The Republicans’ majority in the House is 219-215 with one vacancy. The Senate is 52-47, with a vacancy soon to be filled for Vice President-elect J.D. Vance of Ohio.
“One of the criteria I had with who I’m going to appoint is, we just had an election, the president has a mandate,” DeSantis said. “But if you put someone there and it reduces the numbers in the House, then they make it harder for them to be able to enact an agenda, because, if you know we’re doing an election for two of the seats, but that’s not until April 1.
“So you’re going to be at 217 on Jan. 20 (Inauguration Day) and if they lose one Republican because I appointed someone, the Dems would have a one-seat majority. So it’s a big, practical concern.”
DeSantis made the remarks on Monday at a news conference announcing a special session on Jan. 27.
Two of the possible appointees are state Attorney General Ashley Moody and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez.
Former Republican National Committee co-chairwoman Lara Trump, who was touted as a potential DeSantis appointee, removed herself from consideration before Christmas.
