Mike Waltz resigns from Congress for National Security Adviser post under Donald Trump

Mike Waltz gets one of the earliest jobs in the second Trump White House.

Mike Waltz is officially a former Congressman.

The St. Johns County Republican, who has represented Northeast Florida in Congress since 2019, resigned from office ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration Monday.

In November, Trump tapped Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to serve as his National Security Adviser.

A race to determine Waltz’s successor is underway.

Ahead of the inauguration, Waltz posted a picture on X of himself, incoming Department of Government Efficiency co-lead Elon Musk and fellow veteran Julia Nesheiwat — the latter of whom served in appointed roles under Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis — at St. John’s Church in Washington, D.C.

In his new advisory role to the President, Waltz will be at the forefront of a litany of national security crises — ranging from the ongoing effort to provide weapons to Ukraine and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies. He’ll also be a key figure in efforts to further solidify a ceasefire between Israel and its Hamas and Hezbollah enemies.

A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and three-time GOP Congressman, Waltz is the first Green Beret elected to the U.S. House. He served in the active-duty Army for four years before moving to the Florida Guard. While in the Guard, he did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and was awarded four Bronze Stars, including two with valor.

He also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were Department of Defense chiefs

Waltz retired as a colonel.

In November, he easily won re-election.

He has been Chair of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

Waltz is an ardent Trump advocate who backed efforts to overturn the 2020 election. He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID and its ongoing mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.

Waltz has been a sharp critic of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and has called on the U.S. to hold accountable those who bear responsibility for the deaths of the 13 U.S. service members at Abbey Gate and for “thousands of Americans and allies behind enemy lines.”

He has also repeated Trump’s frequent complaints about a so-called “woke” military that Trump has derided as soft and too focused on diversity and equity programs.

After Trump announced him as his National Security Adviser pick Nov. 12, Waltz released a statement saying he was “deeply honored’ to be selected.

“There is no higher calling than defending our nation’s values, freedoms, and the safety of every American. Together with President Trump and his team, we will confront the evolving challenges of today’s world and hold firm against those who would harm our way of life,” he said.

“Our nation deserves nothing less than bold, unwavering leadership, and that’s what he will deliver. America will keep its allies close, we will not be afraid to confront our adversaries, and we will invest in the technologies that keep our country strong.”

A race is underway to determine Waltz’s replacement in CD 6, which stretches from the southern Jacksonville suburbs to South Daytona. Trump and Waltz’s preferred candidate is Brevard County Republican state Sen. Randy Fine, who faces two opponents — Aaron Baker and Ehsan Joarder — in the Jan. 28 Primary.

Democrats Ges Selmont and Josh Weil are also running, but are long shots.

Waltz won CD 6 with 66% of the vote this year, and in 2022 did even better, winning with more than 75% of the vote. Nearly 46% of the electorate is registered to the Republican Party. Meanwhile, less than 27% of voters are Democrats, according to the most recent L2 voter data.

Winners of both Primaries will advance to the April 1 General Election and also face Libertarian Andrew Parrott and no-party candidate Randall Terry, along with a write-in candidate.

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Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics contributed to this report, which also includes material from The Associated Press. Republished with permission.