Matt Gaetz has made enemies. That鈥檚 part of his pitch.
| Washington
As Republicans try to move past the speakership drama that鈥檚 been immobilizing the House of Representatives, they are grappling with deep internal divisions, as well as rules that make it hard to govern in an age of narrow majorities.
They are also聽still聽grappling with what to do about one member in particular: Matt Gaetz.
The Florida congressman with the gelled hair and penchant for popping up on television was responsible for introducing the motion to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy last week. Only seven other Republicans wound up joining him, but it was enough, in concert with the votes of all 208 Democrats, to bring Mr. McCarthy down.
Why We Wrote This
As House Republicans seek to elect a new speaker, still simmering in the background is anger about how the prior one was ousted. But will they kick out one of their peers over it?
Mr. Gaetz claimed he was driven by broken promises that Mr. McCarthy had made on spending and other matters. The former speaker, for his part, accused Mr. Gaetz of being unhappy about a pending House ethics investigation.
Even as House Republicans took an initial step toward selecting a McCarthy replacement on Wednesday, nominating Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise for House speaker, many GOP lawmakers remained incensed at Mr. Gaetz.
鈥淚t makes us look weak and ineffective when we have a member of the conference who is trying to foster this chaos,鈥� says New York Rep. Mike Lawler, one of several members who have voiced support for expelling Mr. Gaetz from the GOP conference. Such a move would require the backing of two-thirds of House Republicans, while expelling him from Congress would require two-thirds of the full House.
To Mr. Lawler and others, allowing Mr. Gaetz to go unpunished for what they view as an act of brazen disloyalty sets a dangerous precedent.
Yet the reality is, with just a four-seat majority, Republicans probably can鈥檛 afford to lose the telegenic Floridian鈥檚 vote 鈥� or the votes of any other hard-liners. As of press time, Mr. Scalise was still struggling to secure the necessary votes within his own party to win the speakership, though Mr. Gaetz himself indicated he would support him or an alternative nominee, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio.聽
In many ways, Mr. Gaetz represents a breed of controversy-courting lawmakers with whom both parties are increasingly having to contend. Drawing political power not from seniority or legislative chops but from celebrity status among the base, Mr. Gaetz has embraced the attacks launched against him by fellow Republicans, even incorporating them into his聽. He says the speakership drama has only served to boost his popularity with GOP voters back home, a point echoed in interviews with party stalwarts in Florida鈥檚 1st Congressional District.
鈥淗e probably damaged his political career among his colleagues in Washington, but his constituents here will vote for him again and again,鈥� says Mary Howard, vice president of Walton Republican Women Federated in the district鈥檚 Walton County. 鈥淕aetz didn鈥檛 cause the chaos of the Republican Party. The fiscal recklessness caused the chaos.鈥澛�
Building a personal brand
First elected to Congress in 2016, the same year that former President Donald Trump won the White House, Mr. Gaetz rose to prominence as one of Mr. Trump鈥檚 most ardent supporters 鈥� and imitators.聽
Despite being the son of a former president of the Florida Senate and previously serving in the Florida House, Mr. Gaetz casts himself as a political outsider intent on disrupting Washington, even if that means upsetting 鈥� or firing 鈥� longtime leaders of his own party.
When asked on NBC鈥檚 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� last Sunday if he was concerned about possibly losing his job over recent events, Mr. Gaetz responded confidently that he was elected with support from about 70% of his district鈥檚 voters and that 鈥渁nyone trying to kick me out of Congress because they didn鈥檛 like me .鈥澛犅�
Sharon Regan, a lawyer from Gulf Breeze, Florida, and chair of the Santa Rosa County GOP, says she was 鈥減roud as can be鈥� watching Mr. Gaetz in Congress last week, and that Republicans would be 鈥渙ut of their minds鈥� to remove him from their conference.
鈥淗e is their greatest, most courageous hero. He is the voice of the next generation,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hose people don鈥檛 get it.鈥�
Ms. Regan suspects that most local Republican voters have a similarly positive view of their congressman, noting that聽Santa Rosa County is a 鈥渧ery red鈥� area. Maybe 10%, she allows, would 鈥渃all him a showboat.鈥澛�
This is, in fact, a common charge from critics. Like Mr. Trump, Mr. Gaetz is a fixture on cable TV, with various past聽聽chronicling his use of pancake makeup and obsessive tracking of his TV appearances.
鈥淢r. Gaetz is all about himself, focusing on cable-TV appearances, social-media posts, and urgent email appeals for campaign funds in one of the safest Republican districts,鈥� wrote Karl Rove, deputy chief of staff for former President George W. Bush, in a Wall Street Journal Op-Ed titled 鈥�.鈥澛�
To which Mr. Gaetz has all but responded: guilty as charged.
鈥淪peaker of the House Paul Ryan once knocked me for going on TV too much, without considering that maybe his own failures as a leader stemmed from spending too much time in think tanks instead of in the green rooms where guests wait to appear on TV, and are thereby connected to the dinnertime of real Americans,鈥� Mr. Gaetz writes in the first chapter of his 2020 book, 鈥淔irebrand.鈥澛�
鈥淚t鈥檚 impossible to get canceled if you鈥檙e on every channel,鈥� he continues. 鈥淲hy raise money to advertise on the news channels when I can make the news? And if you aren鈥檛 making news, you aren鈥檛 governing.鈥澛�
Asked if she sees any similarities between Mr. Gaetz and Mr. Trump, Ms. Howard with Walton Republican Women Federated doesn鈥檛 hesitate.聽
鈥淭hey both make for good TV,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 powerful 鈥� and that鈥檚 dangerous, because they can get their message out.鈥�
Ambitions to be governor?
Lately, the hoopla on Capitol Hill has given new fuel to rumors that Mr. Gaetz .
The congressman himself has not confirmed this. But when asked about his gubernatorial ambitions on a聽 with Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle, he said he would 鈥渆njoy that job so much,鈥� adding that he would 鈥渘ever leave it鈥� like current Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with his presidential campaign.聽
鈥淲e are seeing trend lines in Florida that make it safer and safer in the Republican column, so if you are a candidate for future office, the reality is that voters are very concerned about spending,鈥� says Matt Terrill, a former consultant for the Republican Party of Florida and former chief of staff to Sen. Marco Rubio鈥檚 2016 presidential campaign. 鈥淢uch of Gaetz鈥檚 rhetoric is something GOP voters will rally behind.鈥�
With a 聽in Cook Political Report rankings, the 1st Congressional District is the reddest in Florida. Since being elected in 2016, Mr. Gaetz has won reelection every two years by more than 30 points. This, despite the fact that between 2020 and 2022, he was under federal investigation for sex trafficking, accused of paying an underage girl to travel with him across state lines.聽
Ultimately, the Justice Department .聽But an investigation into the matter by the House Ethics Committee is ongoing, and some speculate that聽Mr. Gaetz鈥檚 recent rebellion may serve to refocus attention on that probe.聽 聽
If Mr. Gaetz does run for governor in a few years, that controversy will likely come up again, along with other aspects of Mr. Gaetz鈥檚 personal life 鈥� like the fact that Mr. Gaetz has claimed to have a named Nestor.聽
Mr. Gaetz鈥檚 office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.聽
Of course, not all the Republicans in his district have as rosy a view as Ms. Howard鈥檚 or Ms. Regan鈥檚.
鈥淗e knows how to play to a crowd 鈥� what to say and how to say it, to convince people he is on their side,鈥� says Cris Dosev, a veteran and real estate developer who ran against Mr. Gaetz in the Republican primary in 2016 and 2018. 鈥淎nd he鈥檚 very effective at it. I have to give him credit for that.鈥澛�
Mr. Trump can get away with being a provocateur, says Mr. Dosev, who voted for the former president twice and plans to support him again in 2024, because he also gets things done, such as placing three conservative justices on the Supreme Court. By contrast, he sees Mr. Gaetz as more of an 鈥渁ctor.鈥澛�
鈥淭here are people in our district who think he is a hero for doing this, for holding McCarthy to account. To me, he鈥檚 a chaos agent,鈥� says Mr. Dosev. 鈥淗e鈥檚 learned there is a 15-minute cycle in the news, and after that people move on. I think he鈥檚 hoping for that.鈥�
