Matt Gaetz won’t be Trump’s attorney general. What’s next for him?

Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for U.S. attorney general on Thursday in the face of allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use that jeopardized his chances of being confirmed for the job.

But it’s not likely to be the end of his political story.

At just 42 years old, Gaetz has spent most of his adult life serving in elected office and has garnered a reputation as a loyal ally of President-elect Donald Trump, who is now preparing to begin his second four-year stint in the White House.

Here are four possibilities for Gaetz’s political future:

READ MORE: Matt Gaetz withdraws as Trump’s attorney general pick amid sexual misconduct allegations

Going back to the House

Gaetz resigned from his House seat last week as Trump named him as his choice to lead the Justice Department.

In doing so, Gaetz not only stepped down from the current 118th Congress, but said that he did not “intend” to take the oath of office for his next term in the 119th Congress that he just won earlier this month. House rules are unclear whether Gaetz can step back into his seat when members are sworn into the House in January.

What is clear is that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is responsible for setting a special election to fill a House seat in the event of a vacancy, and Gaetz’s seat is currently vacant. While no election date has been set, Gaetz could choose to run in a special election in order to regain his seat in Congress.

DeSantis and Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd could still opt to submit Gaetz’s name to Congress among the list of regularly elected candidates in this year’s election, effectively allowing him to take his oath of office in January like any other newly elected House member, according to a congressional aide.

One potential drawback for Gaetz if he does decide to return to the House is that he would once again be under the jurisdiction of the chamber’s Ethics Committee, which has spent years investigating sex-trafficking and drug-use allegations against the former congressman. Gaetz has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The Ethics Committee voted this week to continue its investigation into Gaetz, but declined for now to release the findings of its investigation. If Gaetz were to reenter the House, that could change.

One sign that Gaetz may be done with the House for now came on Thursday, shortly after the former congressman withdrew his name for attorney general. In a post on social media, his wife Ginger shared a photo of her and Gaetz on the steps of the U.S. Capitol with the caption, “The end of an era.”

A Senate appointment

Gaetz was one of a handful of Floridians tapped for roles in Trump’s incoming administration – a list that also includes U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, whom the president-elect picked for secretary of state.

In turn, it’ll fall on DeSantis to appoint a replacement for Rubio in the Senate, though there are several potential candidates for the job and it’s unclear if Gaetz is one of them.

Gaetz was an early booster of DeSantis during and after his successful 2018 bid for the governor’s mansion, and is also a steadfast Trump supporter, which could work in the former congressman’s favor.

However, several high-profile Trump allies are also pushing DeSantis to name Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump to fill Rubio’s Senate seat, and a number of other Florida Republicans have been floated as potential Senate appointees, including DeSantis’ chief of staff James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and former state House Speakers Paul Renner and Jose Oliva.

DeSantis said this week that he’s begun vetting potential replacements for Rubio and is likely to make a decision on an appointment by early January.

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis says he will likely decide Marco Rubio’s successor by early January

Another job in the Trump administration

In withdrawing from consideration for attorney general, Gaetz explained that he didn’t want his confirmation process to become a “distraction” for the incoming Trump administration.

But there are still plenty of jobs in the administration that wouldn’t require Senate confirmation, such as an advisory role in the White House. And Gaetz, as a longtime and loyal Trump ally, could be a prime contender for one of those roles.

Bide his time for a future run for office

While the attorney general job would have been a big step up for Gaetz, the former congressman has long been seen as having aspirations beyond the U.S. House.

For years, many Florida Republicans have floated the notion that Gaetz could seek the governor’s mansion. DeSantis is currently in the middle of his second term in office and won’t be able to run again because of term limits. That could leave room for Gaetz to mount a bid for governor in 2026.