DeSantis to appoint Florida AG Moody to replace Rubio in U.S. Senate

DeSantis to appoint Florida AG Moody to replace Rubio in U.S. Senate
UPI

Jan. 16 (UPI) — Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody will replace Sen. Marco Rubio if he is confirmed as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced Moody as his pick to replace Rubio in the U.S. Senate to complete his current term, which expires on Jan. 3, 2029.

DeSantis, Rubio and Moody are Republicans.

DeSantis said Moody supports enforcing laws against illegal immigration while opposing the flood of fentanyl that has created a crisis throughout the United States.

“She’s never been a squish on any of these issues,” DeSantis told media during a news conference on Thursday.

“She’ll be part of the enforcement caucus, not the amnesty caucus,” DeSantis said of Moody. “That’s what we need.”

DeSantis said Moody consistently has supported his policies opposing illegal immigration and never wavered on filing legal challenges to President Joe Biden’s executive actions regarding immigration, transgender issues and student loan debt.

Moody said she won’t let down DeSantis, Florida residents or the nation if Rubio is confirmed and she fills his Senate seat.

“I will bring the same persistence and passion and tenacity as a United States senator that I have brought as attorney general,” Moody said.

DeSantis said he intends to appoint his chief of staff, James Uthmeier, to replace Moody as Florida’s attorney general.

That appointment would not occur until the Senate confirms Rubio as the Trump administration’s secretary of state, possibly as soon as Monday.

DeSantis said Moody likely would be sworn in as Rubio’s replacement on Monday, The Hill reported.

Senator Rick Scott, a Republican, would become Florida’s senior member in the U.S. Senate if Rubio is confirmed as secretary of state and said he supports Moody’s appointment to replace Rubio.

“Ashley has done an incredible job fighting for Floridians and keeping our communities safe as attorney general,” Scott said Thursday in a post on X. “I have no doubt she will do an incredible job as senator!”

It would be Moody’s first post outside of Florida, where she earned a law degree from the University of Florida and a master’s in international law from Stetson University.

Her father is U.S. District Court Judge James Moody, who is the federal court’s senior judge for the Middle District of Florida.

Moody was an attorney for the law firm Holland and Knight before becoming circuit court judge in Florida’s Hillsborough County at age 31 in 2006.

Moody won election as Florida’s attorney general in 2018 to succeed former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump has nominated to be the U.S. attorney general.

Moody in 2020 supported the Texas v. Pennsylvania federal lawsuit that sought to overturn the election results that removed Trump from the White House after Biden won the 2020 general election.

Moody also accused Trump of fraud in a 2009 federal lawsuit concerning a real estate transaction but in 2017 said that legal matter did not affect her support for Trump.

Authored by Upi via Breitbart January 16th 2025