Mike Johnson Says Matt Gaetz Has Resigned From Congress: What We Know

House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz handed in his letter of resignation on Wednesday.

The move follows a few hours after President-elect Donald Trump announced that Gaetz was his pick for attorney general. Gaetz will still have to be confirmed by the Senate before the position is his.

“He issued his resignation letter effective immediately,” Johnson of Gaetz while speaking to reporters, according to Fox News’ Aishah Hasnie.

“That caught us by surprise a little bit,” Johnson added. “But I asked him what the reasoning was? And he said, well, you can’t have too many absences.”

Johnson noted that under Florida law, “there’s about an 8-week period to select and fill in a vacancy.”

“I’ve already placed a call to Governor [Ron] DeSantis in Florida and said, let’s start the clock,” Johnson added.

This is a developing story that will be updated as information becomes available.