Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has picked Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, a longtime ally who has frequently sued the Biden administration in recent years, to replace Marco Rubio if he’s confirmed as secretary of state.
“Talk is cheap. We need people that have demonstrated fidelity to these principles with their actions,” DeSantis told reporters Thursday morning, pointing to her track record as the state’s top cop and her lawsuits against the Biden administration. She also has a far-reaching position DeSantis said she promised him: “She’s even taken on the United Nations, which she has pledged as a senator to defund once and for all.”
Her appointment cements a strong DeSantis ally in D.C. ahead of his own ambiguous political future when he’s term-limited out as governor in early 2027.
“I am proud not to just say I have fought alongside you for six years, but I am proud to call you a friend,” Moody said to DeSantis at the press event after his announcement.
Moody said that DeSantis told her he didn’t know why anybody would want to be in Congress, after his own experience serving in the House and how he sees Washington’s political culture.
“You’re probably right, I probably won’t like it,” she said. “But I’m ready to show up and fight for this nation and fight for President Trump to deliver the ‘America First’ agenda on Day One.”
Moody was an early endorser of DeSantis’ 2024 presidential bid, as all but one person in the state’s congressional delegation sided with Donald Trump. Moody won 61% of the vote in her last statewide attorney general election in 2022, a slightly higher margin than DeSantis, and will have to run in 2026 to stay in the Senate.
Some Florida Republicans in Congress gave Moody quick support after DeSantis’ announcement.
“That is a tremendous choice,” Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart said after the announcement. “Ashley Moody is prepared. She’s smart as a whip, she’s sharp, she’s principled.”
Rep. Maria Salazar echoed that, saying Moody is “highly qualified, she’s a female. She will do great, and we would love to work with her.”
DeSantis announced the pick at a press event in Orlando, after weeks of jockeying from state-level leaders and at least two members of Congress vying for the role. Reps. Kat Cammack and Cory Mills both had interviews with DeSantis, but the governor told reporters he was concerned picking one of them could endanger the House majority.
Cammack and Mills tried to wave off the concern to reporters. Mills told NOTUS Monday that Republicans must be united in the House regardless of whether the margin is by one vote or two. But the argument didn’t seem to sway DeSantis. (Both Cammack and Mills also endorsed Trump over DeSantis during the presidential primary.)
“This isn’t anything surprising,” Mills told NOTUS after the announcement. “We knew that he was leaning towards Ashley Moody. You know, this is someone who had endorsed him over President Trump, so it was a bit of a payment to homage of that kind of loyalism that she’s shown.”
He added that he’s still “keeping an eye, as are many, on the seat in ‘26.”
Even though Republicans in Congress were fast to praise Moody, some lamented Lara Trump dropping out of consideration.
“I thought Lara Trump would’ve been a great pick, but she bowed out. There’s a lot of good people; we’re the center of the Republican Party for the nation now,” Sen. Rick Scott told NOTUS last week, also noting that DeSantis had not called or consulted him about the decision. “I’ve got a good relationship with Ashley, she’s a wonderful person.”
Moody is a longtime Florida prosecutor and former judge who was first elected attorney general in 2019. In her post, she has frequently banded with other Republican state AGs to sue the Biden administration, particularly on immigration. She’s also used her post to push against the prosecution of Trump over his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.
DeSantis also announced plans to name his chief of staff as Moody’s replacement as the state’s top prosecutor.
“My chief of staff James Uthmeier is kind of like Ashley, he’s proven himself in these fights, I think he’s got big shoes to fill, but I think he’ll do a good job doing that,” DeSantis told reporters.
Uthmeier is an attorney who previously worked in Rubio’s Senate office, worked at the Department of Commerce during the first Trump administration and joined DeSantis’ office in 2019, according to his LinkedIn. He was also DeSantis’ campaign manager in his unsuccessful presidential bid.
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Claire Heddles is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow. Oriana González is a NOTUS reporter.