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Rep. Matt Gaetz

Representative for Florida’s 1st District

pronounced mat // gayts

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Gaetz is the representative for Florida’s 1st congressional district (view map) and is a Republican. He has served since Jan 3, 2017. Gaetz is next up for reelection in 2022 and serves until Jan 3, 2023.

Gaetz is among the Republican legislators who participated in the months-long, multifarious attempted coup following the 2020 presidential election. Shortly after the election, Gaetz joined a case before the Supreme Court calling for all the votes for president in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin — states that were narrowly won by Democrats — to be discarded, in order to change the outcome of the election, based on lies and a preposterous legal argument which the Supreme Court rejected. (Following the rejection of several related cases before the Supreme Court, another legislator who joined the case called for violence.) Gaetz was also a part of a coordinated campaign by the Trump Administration to pressure the Vice President to exclude some Democratic states from the electoral count rather than follow the Constitution's procedure in which Congress may vote to exclude electors, and other extrajudicial strategies to suppress certified election results. On January 6, 2021 in the hours after the insurrection at the Capitol, Gaetz voted to reject the state-certified election results of Arizona and/or Pennsylvania (states narrowly won by Democrats), which could have changed the outcome of the election. These legislators have generally changed their story after their vote, claiming it was merely a protest and not intended to change the outcome of the election as they clearly sought prior to the vote. The January 6, 2021 insurrection at the Capitol disrupted Congress’s count of electors that determined the outcome of the presidential election with the goal to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office.

Misconduct/alleged misconduct

On March 30, 2021, the New York Times reported that the Department of Justice was investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz over allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with an underage girl. Over the ensuing two weeks, the allegations expanded signficantly and on April 9 the House Committee on Ethics opened an investigation into allegations that Gaetz was engaging in a sexual relationship with underage girl, using illicit drugs, sharing inappropriate images or videos on the House floor, misusing state identification records, converting campaign funds to personal use, and/or accepting a bribe, improper gratuity, or impermissible gift.

Mar. 30, 2021 The New York Times reported that the Department of Justice was investigating Rep. Matt Gaetz over allegedly engaging in a sexual relationship with an underage girl.
Apr. 9, 2021 House Committee on Ethics opened an investigation into Gaetz

In February 2019, Gaetz posted a threatening tweet aimed at Michael Cohen, President Trump's former personal attorney the night before Cohen was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee regarding crimes for which Cohen had been found guilty and in which, according to federal prosecutors, the President participated. Gaetz was referred to the Florida Bar for investigation and possible discipline. In August 2019, the Florida Bar announced it had found "no probable cause" that Gaetz had violated its rules and closed its investigation. In August 2020, the House Committee on Ethics admonished Gaetz for unprofessional behavior.

Feb. 27, 2019 Florida Bar Association opened an investigation against Gaetz for attempted witness intimidation
May. 8, 2019 Florida Bar Association moved the investigation to the Grievance Committee to decide whether or not there is probable cause that Gaetz broke Florida Supreme Court rules for lawyers
Mar. 13, 2019 House Committee on Ethics after receipt of a member complaint, the committee began a review of Gaetz's tweet
May. 13, 2019 Gaetz refused to appear for an interview with the committee.
Jun. 28, 2019 House Committee on Ethics on May 16 warned Gaetz that further non-compliance would result in an Investigative Subcommittee; he continued to refuse to appear for an interview and they established the Investigative Subcommittee in June
Aug. 14, 2019 Florida Bar Association closed its investigation with a finding of no probable cause of rule violation
Aug. 21, 2020 House Committee on Ethics published the report of the Investigative Subcommittee admonishing Gaetz for unprofessional behavior
Photo of Rep. Matt Gaetz [R-FL1]

Analysis

Ideology–Leadership Chart

Gaetz is shown as a purple triangle ▲ in our ideology-leadership chart below. Each dot is a member of the House of Representatives positioned according to our ideology score (left to right) and our leadership score (leaders are toward the top).

The chart is based on the bills Gaetz has sponsored and cosponsored from Jan 3, 2017 to May 24, 2022. See full analysis methodology.

Committee Membership

Matt Gaetz sits on the following committees:

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Gaetz sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Crime and Law Enforcement (23%) Government Operations and Politics (16%) Armed Forces and National Security (16%) International Affairs (13%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (10%) Health (10%) Environmental Protection (6%) Immigration (6%)

Recently Introduced Bills

Gaetz recently introduced the following legislation:

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Most legislation has no activity after being introduced.

Voting Record

Key Votes

Gaetz voted Yea

Passed 222/209 on Mar 17, 2022.

Gaetz voted Nay

Passed 361/69 on Mar 9, 2022.

Gaetz voted Yea

Passed 221/205 on Jul 20, 2021.

Gaetz voted Yea

Passed 327/85 on Dec 21, 2020.
This bill became the vehicle for passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a major government funding bill, which also included economic stimulus provisions due …

Gaetz voted Nay

Gaetz voted Nay

Failed 230/162 on Dec 20, 2018.

Gaetz voted Nay

Gaetz voted Yea

Passed 229/177 on May 19, 2017.
H.R. 1039 amends the federal criminal code to authorize a probation officer to arrest a person, without warrant, if there is probable cause to believe …

Missed Votes

From Jan 2017 to May 2022, Gaetz missed 199 of 2,845 roll call votes, which is 7.0%. This is much worse than the median of 2.1% among the lifetime records of representatives currently serving. The chart below reports missed votes over time.

We don’t track why legislators miss votes, but it’s often due to medical absenses and major life events.

Show the numbers...

Primary Sources

The information on this page is originally sourced from a variety of materials, including: