Congress
Matt Gaetz won’t be the next attorney general. Will he go back to Blue Light News?
Matt Gaetz is out of the running for attorney general. He’s also out of a job on Capitol Hill. In Washington and Tallahassee, the question now is: Could he be back in the House in January?
The Florida Republican resigned both from his current term and preemptively from his term in the next Congress, which he just won in the November election.
“I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress,” he wrote in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson that was also transmitted to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
One thing’s clear: He can’t come back for this Congress. But if Gaetz would like to return to Capitol Hill in January and serve in the seat his Florida constituents elected him to in November, Blue Light News seems prepared to punt that decision to DeSantis and Florida’s secretary of state, Cord Byrd.
A congressional aide indicated that Gaetz’s membership status for the 119th Congress is effectively up to his home state, telling Blue Light News: “The official roll for the 119th Congress will be prepared with the Certificates of Election received from the States.”
The names provided by Florida of candidates who were “regularly elected” to the House under the state and federal laws will be eligible to take their seats in January, the aide continued.
Gaetz has not yet said publicly what he wants to do. And he did not respond to questions from Blue Light News about what his future might hold.
But if he wants to come back to Blue Light News, he may argue his assertion that he won’t serve in the new Congress may be conditional: He specified that he wouldn’t take the oath “to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration,” which is now off the table.
This could put the spotlight on DeSantis — and Byrd, his appointee — on how they want to handle it. Notably, a special election has not yet been scheduled to fill Gaetz’s seat.
Gaetz was once tight with DeSantis, and played a key role in his first transition team back in 2018. But Gaetz remained loyal to Trump during DeSantis’ bid for president — and that shifted the relationship.
Gaetz could possibly take his seat as normal, as if his resignation never happened. Or that special election could still happen — but nothing would stop Gaetz from running in it if he wanted to come back to Washington.
It’s also possible his political future isn’t in the House. Trump’s decision to pick Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of State will allow DeSantis to appoint someone to that plum position for the next two years, until the 2026 elections. DeSantis said he intends to name a successor by early January.
Gaetz is not considered a likely contender for the open Senate seat — but some of his allies have already floated him. And Gaetz has long been rumored to be considering a 2026 gubernatorial run, with DeSantis term-limited.
When reached by phone, Don Gaetz, a Florida state senator and Matt Gaetz’s father, said he had not had a “substantive conversation” with his son following his decision to drop his bid for attorney general and did not know whether he would attempt a return to Congress. He did add that, “I love my son and I’m proud of him.”
Several candidates had already announced their intent to run in the younger Gaetz’s 1st District, a safe Republican seat. But they may show him deference.
Republican state Rep. Michelle Salzman, who already announced a run, told Blue Light News after the news broke that she immediately reached out to Gaetz to tell him she would “fully support whatever he wants” and would “absolutely” withdraw from the race if Gaetz wanted to return to Congress.
Other Republicans who’d filed to run or said they planned to include state Rep. Joel Rudman and Bernadette Pittman, the owner and CEO of Boots on the Ground Bikers for Trump. Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis had also considered running, which would necessitate DeSantis appointing his replacement.
Adam Hamilton raised $10.6 million in the third quarter of 2026 across his Senate campaign and his joint fundraising committees, his campaign tells Blue Light News, a significant haul for the Kansas Democrat.
The fundraising total illustrates Democrats’ newfound bullishness about flipping a Senate seat in the deep-red state for the first time since 1932.
“This grassroots support sends a clear message: with three weeks until Election Day, Adam Hamilton is building the momentum to win,” said Hamilton campaign spokesperson Tyson Brody.
Hamilton’s third-quarter figure is nearly triple his $3.66 million second-quarter total. His campaign did not provide a current cash-on-hand total.
National Democrats began pumping money into Kansas in recent days, a sign of their growing hopes that Hamilton could win. Last week, Senate Majority PAC — Senate Democrats’ top super PAC — reserved $5 million in television ads backing Hamilton. American Bridge PAC and Lower Costs Now, a new group affiliated with former Vice President Kamala Harris’ super PAC, have spent in Kansas in recent weeks.
Republicans have also flocked to Kansas to prop up Marshall: Senate Leadership Fund, the Senate GOP’s top PAC, has spent or reserved nearly $11 million backing Marshall in the past week, according to tracking firm AdImpact.
“It took us five months to raise $15 million. [Marshall] got it in a day,” Hamilton said at a campaign event in Lawrence, Kansas on Monday. “So please help us.”
Marshall’s campaign has yet to release his third-quarter fundraising totals. As of mid-July, Marshall had over $5 million in the bank to $1.73 million for Hamilton.
A bipartisan Senate duo is urging Trump national security officials to “bring its full capacities to bear” to stave off threats posed by artificial intelligence — sooner rather than later.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Republican South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds, who serves on the Senate Armed Services cybersecurity subcommittee, are calling for a full government response to a growing number of cybersecurity breaches.
“Recent AI security incidents should serve as a warning,” the senators wrote in a Tuesday letter to Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and White House Science and Technology Policy Director Michael Kratsios. “Advanced AI agents have escaped testing environments, bypassed safeguards, and gained unauthorized access to real-world systems owned by government agencies and private organizations.”
Spokespeople for Clayton and Kratsios did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Their letter comes as lawmakers struggle to hash out what legislation on AI safety, if any, might look like. Members are currently in recess ahead of the November elections and there’s little hope progress can be made by the year’s end.
But those lawmakers who have been engaged on the topic for years now have mapped out administrative actions the Trump administration could move on now, without waiting on Congress.
The Cantwell and Rounds priorities include: strengthening federal AI safety and security standards at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST; expanding independent testing capabilities at the Center for Advancing Innovation and Standards for Super Intelligence, Department of Energy and the national labs; and working with the tech industry to develop and deploy defensive AI tools.
Specifically, the senators wrote, new NIST standards should address the risks posed by advanced AI capabilities, including the “potential misuse by malicious actors” to conduct sophisticated cyberattacks, automate attacks at scale and agents that threaten external systems and critical infrastructure.
They also said the federal government capacity should be complemented by universities and other research organizations, as well as by private sector, third-party evaluators.
Finally, they point to ways the government could use existing programs at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to work with AI labs to help detect threats and reinforce vulnerable systems.
A bipartisan group of senators urged President Donald Trump to rescind his recent diesel deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, amid bubbling anger on Capitol Hill about Trump’s announcement.
In a letter sent to the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the senators warned that the president’s deal with Russia will not “achieve just ends” or benefit Americans.
“Granting Moscow the ability to sell Russian diesel freely in global markets damages American security interests and is a betrayal of the people of Ukraine, who continue to defend themselves from Putin’s murderous, illegal war,” wrote the lawmakers, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). “This deal is a gift to our adversary and a betrayal of our Allies; it should be rescinded.”
On Sunday, a smaller group of senators called on the president to “immediately reverse course” on the plan in a statement. Retiring Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — who signed on to both — said Sunday there may be “a legitimate case for saying the president’s not following the law.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump announced in a social media post on Friday that Russia would “immediately supply” diesel fuel to global markets — including potentially the U.S. — to help relieve high prices driven, in part, by the ongoing war with Iran. Though Trump has repeatedly defended the U.S.’s actions against Iran, on Saturday he demanded an end to Ukrainian drone strikes that have crippled Russian oil refineries that he argues have caused the record-high oil prices.
The senators on Tuesday argued that the deal with Russia will have a “negligible impact” on fuel prices while providing Putin with “more fuel to finance his war machine” as Russia continues its “brutal attacks on Ukrainian civilians.”
The deal with Russia is a sharp pivot from a sweeping sanctions package signed into law last month. That legislation — championed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) — was meant to deplete Moscow’s resources by targeting Russian officials, banks and a shadow fleet of oil tankers. It drew widespread bipartisan support in both chambers of Congress.
Senators on Tuesday referenced the package as they condemned Putin as a “tyrant.”
“For decades, America has stood as the bastion of freedom against tyranny, and American presidents have embodied our nation’s resistance to tyrants. Putin is a tyrant,” the letter reads. “Withdraw from this agreement, rescind General License No. 135, and execute the authorities provided under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026. Maintain our legacy – and the duty America holds – as leader of the free world.”
In addition to Blumenthal and Tillis, Tuesday’s letter was signed by Democratic Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.), Jack Reed (R.I.), and Chris Coons (Del.) and Republican Sens. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Susan Collins (Maine), Alan Armstrong (Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and John Cornyn (Texas).
-
Politics2 years agoFormer ‘Squad’ members launching ‘Bowman and Bush’ YouTube show
-
Uncategorized2 years ago
Bob Good to step down as Freedom Caucus chair this week
-
The Josh Fourrier Show2 years agoDOOMSDAY: Trump won, now what?
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoPete Hegseth’s tenure at the Pentagon goes from bad to worse
-
Politics2 years agoFormer Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron launches Senate bid
-
The Dictatorship2 years agoLuigi Mangione acknowledges public support in first official statement since arrest
-
Politics2 years agoBlue Light News’s Editorial Director Ryan Hutchins speaks at Blue Light News’s 2025 Governors Summit
-
The Dictatorship1 year agoMike Johnson sums up the GOP’s arrogant position on military occupation with two words