Politics
Daniel Perez to resign as House Speaker after Senate confirms Brazil ambassadorship
Daniel Perez will step down as House Speaker this month after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as Ambassador to Brazil, according to a memo he sent to House members.
“As most of you may be aware, President Trump has asked me to serve as our nation’s Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, and my nomination for that office has today been confirmed by the United States Senate,” Perez wrote in the Aug. 7 memo, adding that he will take the oath of office later this month.
Perez said he has notified Secretary of State Cord Byrd that his resignation from the House, where he represents House District 116 in Miami-Dade County, will take effect Friday, Aug. 21.
Under House rules, Speaker Pro Tempore Wyman Duggan will assume the Speaker’s “duties, powers and prerogatives.”
Perez was set to step down as Speaker in November. His sister, Ashley Perez-Biliskov, is running to succeed him in HD 116.
President Donald Trump nominated Perez for the Brazil post in June as part of a broader slate of ambassadorial and law enforcement appointments.
Perez wrote that he has also cleared the way for Speaker-designate Sam Garrison’s team to “assume control over the House’s operations” on Sept. 8, giving Garrison additional time to prepare before taking the gavel.
“Serving in this House and as your Speaker has been the honor of my life,” Perez wrote, calling the two years “a sometimes thrilling and sometimes tumultuous journey.”
“As you look back on this term, I hope you feel, as I do, that we have done right by this House and the people of Florida,” he wrote. “Until we meet again.”
A first-generation Cuban American who grew up in Westchester, Perez has represented HD 116 since a 2017 Special Election and became Speaker in November 2024.
His tenure was marked by repeated clashes with Gov. Ron DeSantis, including House-led overrides of DeSantis’ budget vetoes, an investigation that helped dismantle the First Lady’s Hope Florida charity, and a House property tax package that outpaced the Governor’s tardy proposal.
His chamber also carried out the mid-decade congressional redistricting Trump requested this year, which Democratic U.S. House Leader Hakeem Jeffries seized on when Perez’s nomination became public, accusing him on social media of trading a gerrymandered map for an ambassadorship.
Perez rejected that characterization in a June interview with CBS News Miami, calling the suggestion “insane” and insisting he never discussed the nomination with anyone while the map was being drawn.
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