Rep. Carlos Gimenez of Florida has formally launched a bid to become chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, according to a letter of intent obtained by NOTUS.
The powerful committee is responsible for oversight of the Department of Homeland Security. Gimenez wrote that his experience as a firefighter and city manager in Miami has prepared him for the role.
“These roles were not theoretical, they were boots-on-the-ground, real-world experiences that mirror the mission of this Committee: aviation and maritime security, border protection, emergency response, and law enforcement coordination,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of working with President Donald Trump on his sweeping immigration crackdown.
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“I have witnessed firsthand the devastating human, economic, and security consequences of the Biden-Harris open-border agenda,” Gimenez wrote in the letter. “Every day, the vast maritime border of my district is tested. Thankfully, under President Donald J. Trump’s renewed leadership, we are seeing long-overdue changes … But make no mistake, the work is far from over.”
In recent weeks Gimenez has toured immigration detention centers across south Florida and heavily promoted the president’s domestic spending bill.
Gimenez, a Cuban-born Republican, was elected to Congress in 2020 with an endorsement from Trump after spending more than eight years as Miami-Dade County mayor. He’s considered a moderate Republican who votes in line with the president’s agenda but has a history of being critical of his more hard-line colleagues like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“The reason why he’s served for 25 years and hasn’t lost an election is because he’s a straight shooter, people trust him,” a Gimenez spokesperson told Politico, which first reported news of Gimenez’s bid for the role.
He is the first Republican to enter the race after Rep. Mark Green, the current chair, announced he would be retiring to take an undisclosed job in the private sector. The retirement took many in Congress by surprise — Green, who has been representing Tennessee in Congress since 2019, is already a wealthy man, according to his personal financial disclosures.
While it remains unclear what the job is, five sources told NOTUS earlier this month that Green has spent much of his time in D.C. pitching lawmakers on mysterious foreign-business opportunities in South America. In fact, he announced his retirement from Guyana, missing a few days of House votes while being “super cagey” about the business opportunity in question, one source said.
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Amelia Benavides-Colón is a NOTUS reporter and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellow.
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