TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez will resign from the Legislature later this month after the U.S. Senate confirmed him as the next U.S. ambassador to Brazil.
Perez, a Cuban-American Republican from Miami, said his resignation will take effect Friday, Aug. 21. President Donald Trump nominated him for the diplomatic post in June.
“Serving in this House and as your Speaker has been the honor of my life,” Perez wrote in a letter to House members. “We have been on a sometimes thrilling and sometimes tumultuous journey together.”
Under House rules, Speaker Pro Tempore Wyman Duggan will assume the speaker’s duties after Perez leaves. Perez said Speaker-designate Sam Garrison’s team can take control of House operations Sept. 8, giving Garrison additional time to prepare for his upcoming term.
Perez’s move to Brazil comes amid heightened tensions between the Trump administration and the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil has objected to the way Perez’s appointment was announced, saying the United States should have privately sought its consent before making the nomination public. Brazilian officials have said the request remains under review.
The State Department this week said Brazil’s refusal to accept Perez was a key reason it revoked the visa of Brazil’s ambassador to the United States.
Perez’s nomination was submitted to the Senate June 1 and advanced out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on July 22 before winning confirmation Friday.
“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,” Perez wrote. “Until we meet again.”
