Matt Gaetz

Matt Gaetz
File:Matt Gaetz.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Jeff Miller
Member of the Florida House of Representatives from the 4th district
In office April 15, 2010 – November 8, 2016
Preceded by	Ray Sansom
Succeeded by	Mel Ponder
Personal details
Born	(1982-05-07) May 7, 1982 Hollywood, Florida, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Residence	Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Alma mater	Florida State University (B.S.) College of William and Mary (J.D.)
Profession	Attorney

Matthew Louis "Matt" Gaetz, II (born May 7, 1982, in Hollywood, Florida) is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives representing Florida's 1st congressional district. A staunch conservative previously associated with the Tea Party movement, he is a supporter of former President Donald Trump.

Gaetz is the son of Florida politician Don Gaetz, who was a member of the Florida Senate from 2006 to 2016 and the President of the Senate from 2012 to 2014. He was raised in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. After graduating from the William & Mary Law School, he briefly worked in private practice before running for state representative. He served in the Florida House of Representatives, representing the 4th District, which includes most of Okaloosa County, from 2010 until 2016, and received national attention for defending Florida's controversial stand-your-ground law. In 2016, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and was reelected in 2018 and 2020.

Early life and education

Gaetz graduated from Florida State University in 2003 and from The College of William and Mary in 2007 with a juris doctor.

Florida House of Representatives

In 2010, following the resignation of Republican State Representative Ray Sansom, who had briefly served as the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, due to corruption charges, Gaetz ran in the special election to succeed Sansom in the 4th District, which included southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County. In a crowded Republican primary that included Craig Barker, Kabe Woods, former State Representative Jerry Melvin, and Bill Garvie, Gaetz emerged victorious with 43% of the vote. In the special general election, Gaetz defeated Democratic nominee Jan Fernald in a landslide, winning 66% of the vote. He was re-elected without opposition in 2010. In 2012, following the reconfiguration of Florida House of Representatives districts, Gaetz's 4th District had the Santa Rosa County portions removed. He ran for re-election there and won unopposed. Gaetz was re-elected in 2014 without opposition.

While serving in the Florida House of Representatives, Gaetz joined with State Senator Joe Negron to propose legislation that is "designed to accelerate the execution of many of the 404 inmates on Florida's death row" by requiring the Governor to sign a death warrant for those inmates who have exhausted their appeals, noting, "Only God can judge. But we can sure set up the meeting." He also joined forces with State Senator Greg Evers to repeal legislation that requires that 10% of gasoline sold in Florida contain ethanol, saying, "This is the bill that removes and repeals Florida's burdensome ethanol mandate."

Following the trial of George Zimmerman for the shooting of Trayvon Martin, Will Weatherford, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives, announced that he would order hearings on the "stand your ground" law that was raised as an issue during the trial. Gaetz, the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, was tasked with reviewing the legislation, and announced before hearings that he would not support changing "one damn comma," though he indicated that he would listen to both sides' testimony during the hearings. Following the conclusion of the hearings, he authored legislation that would allow defendants who successfully used a "stand your ground" defense during their trial "to apply for a 'certificate of eligibility' to expunge information related to 'stand your ground' from their criminal records."

When his subcommittee was considering legislation that would "keep mug shots of people who are charged with crimes off the Internet until they are convicted," Gaetz brought up his 2008 arrest for driving under the influence, arguing that his mistakes made him who he is and that publicly available mug shots "could be a problem for those unaccustomed to publicity."

Gaetz was re-elected unopposed to his third term in the legislature in 2014.

Florida Senate

Gaetz announced that he would run for the Florida Senate in the 1st District, then held by his father, State Senator Don Gaetz, in 2016, when his father's tenure came to an end. On March 21st, 2016, Gaetz withdrew to run for Florida's 1st Congressional District, since Jeff Miller did not seek reelection.

U.S. House of Representatives

On February 3, 2017, Gaetz proposed a bill, H.R. 861 (115th Congress) that would "completely abolish" the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), writing, "Our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans. It is time to take back our legislative power from the EPA and abolish it permanently."

In May 2019, Gaetz gave a notable speech in which he advocated for an America First foreign policy. He has criticized Congress' prioritizing Russia/Ukraine issues over securing the U.S. southern border.

Gaetz has been condemned by neoconservatives for, among other things, his opposition to Saudi Arabian influence on American politics, his opposition to war with Iran, his open contempt for George W. Bush, and his public feud with Liz Cheney. Their influence may have resulted in him being excluded from Trump's impeachment defense team. He indicated in December 2020 that he would object on the House floor to the certification of Joe Biden in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Despite all of the above, Gaetz does hold some socially liberal views. In 2015, while serving in the Florida state legislature, he sponsored a repeal on its ban on LGBT adoption,. In 2019, he defended Democratic Representative Katie Hill of California before her resignation over a sex scandal. Gaetz also defied conservatives by voting to increase visa caps for high-skilled (i.e., high-paid) workers (2019 roll call h437). Some of Gaetz's views on social issues have since been reversed, such as when he voted against the Equality Act.

In September 2021, he voted with Democrats and Rockefeller Republicans to pass a red flag gun confiscation bill, leaving many other conservatives outraged; however, he later expressed regret and successfully fought to remove them from the bill. Gaetz has otherwise remained strongly pro-Second Amendment. Gaetz also endorsed the idea to make President Donald Trump Speaker of the House and impeach and indict Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and their supporters.

In late 2020, the Department of Justice opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in exchange for money in violation of federal sex trafficking laws, which Gaetz has denied. He has stated that they are the product of an extortion scheme targeting him and his father.

In the months prior to Donald Trump's departure from office, Gaetz is alleged to have sought a pardon from the President, although both men have denied that such a request was ever made. Meanwhile, leaked texts indicate the possibility of Israeli Embassy involvement in the alleged extortion scheme, which in turn was centered around efforts to raise money to get the now-deceased FBI agent Robert Levinson released from Iranian custody. All parties involved in the alleged scheme have denied that whatever they requested or demanded amounted to extortion; and the Israeli consulate employee involved in the scheme has claimed that he did know about the allegations against Gaetz until shortly before they were made public, in the process implying that he may not have been "kept entirely in the loop" about the situation. Gaetz's accusation of attempted extortion was later corroborated.

Committee assignments

• Committee on Armed Services
  • Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
  • Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
• Committee on the Budget
• Committee on the Judiciary
  • Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet
  • Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law

Support for the 2nd Amendment

On February 28, 2016, USF Executive Director and NRA Past President Marion P. Hammer sent a "Florida Alert!" highlighting Gaetz's open letter to Miguel de la Portilla, criticizing him of not scheduling and killing the "Open Carry" bill.

Matt Gaetz has an A+ rating with the National Rifle Association.

External links

• Congressman Matt Gaetz official U.S. House site
• Campaign website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Profile at Project Vote Smart
• Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
• Legislation sponsored at The Library of Congress