Gov. on Monday named his former chief of staff, James Uthmeier as Florida鈥檚 attorney general, handing the state鈥檚 top law enforcement role to a trusted aide who has helped some of his .
Uthmeier was sworn in Monday during a ceremony in Tallahassee. The 37-year-old becomes one of the youngest state attorneys general and the latest person to benefit from the sparked by President 鈥檚 drafting of Sunshine State Republicans for his new administration. Uthmeier is poised to spearhead Florida鈥檚 legal battles to bolster Trump鈥檚 sweeping conservative agenda, at a time when the state鈥檚 leaders are eager to to demonstrate their allegiance to the president.
Uthmeier succeeds former Attorney General , whom the governor tapped to of , Trump鈥檚 pick to be U.S. secretary of state.
DeSantis said Uthmeier was a 鈥渂ulldog in our administration鈥� who will not shy away from a difficult fight. The Republican governor praised Uthmeier鈥檚 work in his administration, including fighting federal mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic and combating diversity, equity and inclusion programs in higher education.
鈥淎ll throughout our administration, James was always digging in and fighting for what was right even when it wasn鈥檛 easy,鈥� DeSantis said during the ceremony.
Uthmeier in his remarks promised to 鈥渆ndeavor every day to do what is right and to levy justice where it is due.鈥�
鈥淲e will champion an America-first agenda, and we will fight back against the cartels, the gangs, and the traffickers that have wreaked havoc on our country for far too long,鈥� Uthmeier said. 鈥淲e will not stand idly by as the left tries to infiltrate our institutions and use the court system to indoctrinate our kids. We will fight the activists that try to weaken our duly enacted laws that try to challenge our constitutional order and that try to harm the unborn.鈥�
Speaking to the Yale Federalist Society earlier this month, DeSantis suggested Uthmeier could pursue state charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci. Before leaving office, 鈥� the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 鈥� to guard against potential 鈥渞evenge鈥� by the new Trump administration for his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He started at the governor鈥檚 office as deputy general counsel in 2019 and was promoted to general counsel the following year.
In 2021, Uthmeier became chief of staff, but took a leave of absence in 2023 to for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis bowed out after in the Iowa caucuses by 30 percentage points and Uthmeier returned to his chief of staff role.
Uthmeier grew up in the beach resort town of Destin, Florida, and attended the University of Florida, where he earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business administration and political science, and a master鈥檚 degree in international business.
After graduating from Georgetown Law School in 2014, he spent years in Washington, where he interned as a law clerk in Rubio鈥檚 office. He worked as an associate at Jones Day, a major law firm, before joining the Trump administration in 2017, where he served as a senior adviser to then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
For the past six years, Uthmeier has helped orchestrate and defend some of the governor鈥檚 most controversial and legally questionable initiatives, including a state-funded effort to from Texas to Martha鈥檚 Vineyard, Massachusetts. Uthmeier also chaired two political committees 鈥� Keep Florida Clean and the Florida Freedom Fund 鈥� that raised more than $1 million to oppose measures on the 2024 ballot that would have expanded and .
A majority of Florida voters backed the proposals, but the initiatives needed to pass after DeSantis鈥� office used to oppose them.
The state鈥檚 Attorney General鈥檚 Office has a record of defending the conservative agendas of DeSantis and Trump. Moody spent months arguing to keep the abortion rights and recreational marijuana proposals in Florida and was one of the Republican attorneys generals who joined a lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to in the 2020.
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Payne reported from Tallahassee, Florida. She is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Stephany Matat And Kate Payne, The Associated Press
