On Monday, as we covered at the time, there was plenty of speculation and chatter that President-Elect Donald Trump would select Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) to lead the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The following day, the congressman himself took to his X account to address the matter.
"I appreciate the speculation but I am staying in Congress and running for re-election. It’s an honor to serve the people of Florida’s 23rd district," Moskowitz wrote on Tuesday afternoon. That sure looks like it's a no, then.
I appreciate the speculation but I am staying in Congress and running for re-election. It’s an honor to serve the people of Florida’s 23rd district.
— Jared Moskowitz (@JaredEMoskowitz) December 17, 2024
Earlier on Tuesday, the Sun Sentinel also reported on comments from the congressman. "Moskowitz tamped down the speculation via text Tuesday morning. 'All rumor and conjecture. I have no plans on leaving Congress,'" the report mentioned.
There were certainly reasons to pick Moskowitz, notably his bipartisanship and how he served as the director of Emergency Management for Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in Florida, as the Sun Sentinel delved further into. He also helped lead the state's COVID response. Nevertheless, there were also those on the right who weren't too thrilled with such a possibility.
As Robby Starbuck pointed out, such a position could help Moskowitz's resume if he wanted to run for governor in the future.
Not a fan of this. Moskowitz has been on the attack against MAGA for a long time. Jared wants to run for Governor of Florida. Why would we help build a resume for a Dem to run for FL Gov? R’s gaining a house seat via special election is no sure thing in a district a Dem just won. https://t.co/v8EmSnSgR9
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) December 16, 2024
It's also a smart move politically for the congressman, who won reelection last month by about 5 points, after first winning his seat in 2022, with the district being D+5, according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index (Cook PVI).
There's also no guarantee that Moskowitz would have been replaced by a Democrat if a strong Republican ran for the seat, which would thus expand the Republican's narrow majority in the House.
As the Sun Sentinel further added:
If Trump appoints Moskowitz, and the congressman accepts, the move would be a political gift for Republicans.
...
More significantly in the longer term, a Republican could easily win a special election to fill a vacancy in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District, which takes in northern Broward and much of the coast extending south through most of Fort Lauderdale and a share of southern Palm Beach County.
Moskowitz won his two elections by the smallest margins of any congressional victory in the state. He received 52.5% of the vote in November, two years after he won his first term in the House with 51.6% of the vote.
Trump lost the district by 2 percentage points and DeSantis won it by 1 percentage point in 2022, showing the territory is competitive.
Although he had been cagey about speaking about such speculation last week, Moskowitz did emphasize that the role should not be a partisan one. Regardless of who Trump does end up picking, such a person will almost certainly be better than Deanne Criswell, the current FEMA director, given her handling of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. As Mia covered at the time last month, she went before two back-to-back House committee hearings to answer for such a failed response.
I asked Moskowitz last week if he would accept FEMA director under Trump. He said he wasn't going to engage.
— Mia Camille McCarthy (@Reporter_Mia) December 16, 2024
Then he came back to me to tell me he only says that because it should stay a nonpartisan job: "A Democrat shouldn't be ruled out for that job it's a nonpartisan job." https://t.co/WMo1Je9XcM
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