Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed state Attorney General Ashley Moody to the U.S. Senate, giving her the seat to fill the seat of Sen. Marco Rubio, who President-elect Donald Trump appointed as secretary of state.
Rubio was selected to serve in the Trump administration shortly after Trump won the 2024 presidential election, giving DeSantis a Senate confirmation that could have ripple effects on Florida government and politics.
Moody has been widely expected to be the pick in recent weeks, and others, including Reps. Kate Carmack and Cory Mills, did discuss the position with DeSantis. DeSantis has publicly said he has reservations about appointing members to the House of Representatives because of the slim Republican majority in the chamber.
State Sen. Jay Collins, a former Green Beret, also has strong support from conservatives who want DeSantis to pick a veteran.
But ultimately, the seat will go to Moody, 49, who easily won her first election in 2018 to become attorney general and is up for re-election in 2022. She cannot run again due to term limits.
She must run in a 2026 special election to keep her seat during the final two years of Rubio's term. As Politico first reported, Mills has said he will run for Senate in 2026 and Carmack is considering a run, meaning Moody would face a Republican primary challenger.
For now, though, her confirmation would set a new record for a Republican woman in the Senate, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. There will be 10 Republican women in the chamber when Moody takes his seat.
Moody is a close ally of DeSantis, who has served as his chief legal bulldog in a series of high-profile political battles with the Biden administration.
Most recently, Moody's office, which is technically separate from the governor's office, filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department in October over what she believed was an attempt by the federal government to block Florida's investigation into a second assassination attempt on Trump. at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in September.
"Every day that Florida is prevented from investigating, the state's case becomes harder to prove at trial," Moody argued in the lawsuit. "In contrast, the federal government has not investigated Florida for state law crimes. and was harmed because the state had no intention of interfering with or impeding the federal investigation."
DeSantis said he believed the federal government was "impeding" Florida's ability to investigate on its own.
Moody said the state needed an independent investigation, in part because the Justice Department should not be investigating an assassination attempt on Trump while simultaneously trying to prosecute him. Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the federal case into whether Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election and his alleged mishandling of classified documents since Trump won the election in November, has resigned amid concerns over Trump's election. Pu's case has also been concluded.
In December, Moody also released an arrest affidavit for Ryan Routh, the gunman behind the second assassination attempt. She said a traffic jam caused by the search for Rouse led to an accident that injured a 6-year-old girl. Rouse is in federal custody and faces five charges related to the attempted assassination.
State attorneys general also sued the Biden administration earlier this year in an attempt to block a rule proposed by Moody that would force doctors to provide transgender care against their better judgment. Transgender issues have been one of DeSantis’ major culture war concerns during his tenure as governor.
DeSantis has not said publicly who he will choose to fill Rubio's seat, but he has said the person will take a tough stance on immigration, including pushing for reforms to the so-called H-1B visa program, which has been a contentious issue. the subject of internal debate. The post-election fight among Trump’s own supporters.
Trump supporters like billionaire tech tycoon Elon Musk say the program provides many companies with low-cost international talent, while conservative pundits like Steve Bannon and Laura Loomer The populist wing of the MAGA movement, which leads the movement, said the scheme should be scrapped.
Trump said in late December that he believed the plan was "great."
Moody's choice could also reset DeSantis' own political trajectory.
It is widely believed that DeSantis' longtime chief of staff, James Uthmeier, will now be appointed to fill Moody's position, requiring DeSantis to choose a new senior staffer. Usmeier served as campaign manager for DeSantis' failed 2024 presidential bid and is considered one of his closest confidants.