Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his bid to serve as attorney general in the next Trump administration, but the question remains: Can he return to his old job as a member of Congress?

For his part, Gaetz has only expressed his intention not to take the oath of office for the 119th Congress – which begins on January 3, 2025 and for which Gaetz is up for re-election. He cannot preemptively resign from a session of Congress that has not yet been convened or for which he has not taken an oath to serve – which means he is still eligible to serve in the 119th, although he cannot under any circumstances can revoke his resignation from the 118th. return to the Lame Duck session, per house rules.

The Clerk of the House of Representatives read a resignation letter from Gaetz on November 14 – after President-elect Donald Trump appointed him as his pick for attorney general – which stated: “I hereby resign as Representative of the United States, effective immediately States for Florida’s first congressional district. And I do not intend to take the oath of office for the same office in the 119th Congress to pursue the position of Attorney General in the Trump Administration.”

If Gaetz changes his mind and alerts the House Clerk that he plans to serve in the 119th Congress, he could be sworn in as no special election has yet been scheduled to fill the expected vacancy.

The rules of the House of Representatives require members to declare their presence at the beginning of the first session of Congress to fill their seats. The rule reads: “House Rules 2. (a): At the commencement of the first session of each Congress, the Registrar shall call to order the Members, Delegates and the Local Commissioner and proceed to register their attendance by the States in alphabetical order either by calling from the list or by using the electronic voting system.”

If Gaetz or another member does not report to the Capitol to record their presence, that district’s seat will be declared vacant.

The house rules contain few further details. ABC News has reached out to the Office of the Clerk for additional guidance.

And Florida’s own election laws seem vague on this point.

Florida Elections Official Paul Lux, the Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections, who is in Gaetz’s district, told ABC News that he expects the primary for the special election to fill Gaetz’s seat to close once he finalizes his plans to announced steps would probably be sometime in February. and the general election would likely take place in April — although he emphasized that nothing is final until official dates are announced by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office.

DeSantis, for his part, has yet to formally set a date for that special election.

ABC News has contacted the Florida Department of State’s Division of Elections to inquire whether the language in Gaetz’s letter triggers any kind of automatic vacancy or if there is anything in Florida law that would prevent him from returning to the 119th Congress. Some Republicans in the district have already declared their intention to run, although one candidate, Joel Rudman, said he would support Gaetz if he wanted to return to Congress.

Gaetz has not said publicly what he plans to do. His wife Ginger Gaetz posted a photo with him earlier Thursday on the Capitol steps with the caption, “The end of an era.”