John Guard says he’s willing to withdraw from consideration as federal Judge to serve on Florida Supreme Court

Former acting Attorney General John Guard’s bid to serve on the Florida Supreme Court is moving ahead without questions about his role in money moving from a Medicaid settlement to the Hope Florida Foundation.

But that doesn’t mean the issue isn’t affecting his path forward.

Guard interviewed with the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission as one of several candidates to potentially replace Justice Charles T. Canady.

Guard, who is the chief deputy AG for the state, had faced questions over the optics of the unorthodox $10 million appropriation that ultimately was used for political advertising in 2024 before being selected for a U.S. District Court judgeship by President Donald Trump.

The White House reportedly didn’t want a “nasty confirmation fight” while the issue was in suspense, sources said in October while explaining a pause in the nomination moving forward since June.

While Guard said he doesn’t know why his bid has been slow-walked, he is willing to walk away if that helps assure the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission that he wants this job.

“I don’t know why it has not gone through confirmation. It’s not something other than to tell me that they still fully support me and await my confirmation. I don’t have any details of when that will occur,” Guard said.

“My understanding is that the Governor’s Office is going to consider whatever list this Commission produces first, and then proceed to the 2nd DCA (Second District Court of Appeals) list. And so, I have presumed from the beginning that if I’m selected for any of these spots where if my confirmation all of a sudden goes warp speed, whichever occurs first is where I’m going to end up and likely be. If that means that I need to call the White House Counsel’s Office and tell them that I would request the President to withdraw my nomination, that’s what I will do.”

Guard was among those subpoenaed over his role in the Hope Florida scandal. He signed the controversial settlement with Medicaid insurer Centene, but not before privately raising concerns, according to the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times, which obtained emails documenting the conversations.

The emails show Guard removed references to his office in drafts of the settlement in a series of back-and-forth conversations over the course of 22 days. 

Guard said there was nothing in his background that could embarrass the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration should he ultimately be appointed to replace Canady, who left the court to become a director and a tenured professor at the University of Florida’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education.

Guard also said his first choice was the one he interviewed for Monday.

“I think the best legal job is probably to serve on the Florida Supreme Court. And I say that because you’re the head of the judicial branch. You’re kind of responsible for helping with the legitimacy of our core system and maintaining the rule of law,” Guard said.

“If I were to rank them … I would say Supreme Court Justice, District Court Judge, and District Court of Appeals Judge. But I think between the District Court and the District Court of Appeals, there’s not that much difference,” he added.

Guard also said irate citizens were the biggest problem the judiciary faces, though he said the Florida Supreme Court itself does a “pretty good job” of mitigating the threat.

“I’ve heard from the Chief Justice that threats are up at the Florida Supreme Court. I’ve heard that there are threats at courthouses around the state, and so I think that is probably the biggest kind of threat, which is a threat to the legitimacy and the role of courts,” he said.

Much of the interview focused on Guard’s admiration for the late SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia, though Guard did break with the conservative icon on certain First Amendment cases, in which Scalia sided with “more liberal” colleagues.

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Janelle Irwin Taylor of Florida Politics contributed to this report.