Former U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz has been appointed to serve on the board of directors for Triumph Gulf Coast, a state-created organization overseeing disbursement of settlement funds from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The appointment was made by Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez and will take effect July 1.

Gaetz’s four-year term on the seven-member board runs through June 30, 2030, according to a letter from Perez to Gaetz. This marks Gaetz’s first public service role since resigning from Congress in 2024, when President Trump nominated him for attorney general. Gaetz withdrew from that nomination following an investigation by the Justice Department and a House ethics probe over allegations involving underage women.

Gaetz represented Florida’s 1st Congressional District—including Escambia, Santa Rosa, and Okaloosa counties, as well as portions of Walton County—from 2017 to 2024. He was one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal allies in Congress and a close associate of Governor Ron DeSantis during DeSantis’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign. Gaetz endorsed Trump when both ran for president in 2024.

The appointment comes as Gaetz has not pursued statewide offices or the attorney general role since his congressional resignation, despite prior speculation about potential runs for governor or attorney general. Meanwhile, Trump recently nominated Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Brazil.