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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, by calling for entire states to be disenfranchised in the 2020 presidential election, fomented the terrorist attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 that aimed to prevent the determination of the next president of the United States. Shortly after the 2020 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 discounted, claiming that some voters there followed procedures set by the wrong state officials. The case amplified lies and conspiracy theories that fueled the movement that led to the attack on the Capitol. The Supreme Court rejected the case. Following the rejection of several cases before the Supreme Court, one legislator called for violence. On January 6, 2021 in the hours after the attack on the Capitol, Gaetz voted for the exclusion of Arizona and/or Pennsylvania — states narrowly won by Democrats — from the count of Electoral College votes that determined the next President of the United States.

Alleged misconduct & resolution

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 the Committee 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

Legislative Metrics

Read our 2020 Report Card for Gaetz.

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 Feb 22, 2021. See full analysis methodology.

Ratings from Advocacy Organizations

The Club for Growth: 84% United States Chamber of Commerce: 70% League of Conservation Voters: 12% Human Rights Campaign: 0% Planned Parenthood Action Fund: 0%

Bills Sponsored

Issue Areas

Gaetz sponsors bills primarily in these issue areas:

Crime and Law Enforcement (21%) Armed Forces and National Security (21%) International Affairs (16%) Public Lands and Natural Resources (11%) Health (11%) Immigration (11%) Environmental Protection (11%)

Recent Bills

Some of Gaetz’s most recently sponsored bills include...

View All » | View Cosponsors »

Voting Record

Key Votes

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

Passed 422/3 on Jan 29, 2019.
When terrorists groups increasingly relying on Bitcoin and other similar virtual currencies, what should be done? #### Context Bitcoin is the most famous among several ...

Gaetz voted Nay

Passed 412/3 on Jan 28, 2019.

Gaetz voted Nay

Gaetz voted Nay

Failed 230/162 on Dec 20, 2018.

Gaetz voted Nay

Passed 369/47 on Dec 12, 2018.
See the Congressional Research Service's 122-page summary of the bill. * * * H.R. 2 amends and extends major programs for income support, food and ...

Gaetz voted Yea

Passed 361/61 on Sep 26, 2018.
H.R. 6157 provides $674.6 billion in total discretionary budget authority for the Department of Defense for fiscal year (FY) 2019. The bill provides $606.5 billion ...

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 Feb 2021, Gaetz missed 179 of 2,196 roll call votes, which is 8.2%. This is much worse than the median of 2.0% 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: