Gov. Ron DeSantis’ former chief of staff James Uthmeier sworn in as Florida’s attorney general

James Uthmeier, a former chief of staff, was sworn in as Florida’s attorney general on Monday during a ceremony in Tallahassee, giving the state’s top law enforcement position to a trusted aide who has helped plan and defend some of his most divisive initiatives. Uthmeier, 37, is the latest to benefit from the political shuffle sparked by President Donald Trump’s drafting of Sunshine State Republicans for his new administration, and he is poised to lead Florida’s legal battles to support Trump’s broad conservative agenda at a time when the state’s leaders are eager to pass new laws and challenge the law to show their loyalty to the president. Uthmeier replaces former Attorney General Ashley Moody, whom the governor appointed to replace Marco Rubio, Trump’s choice for U.S. Secretary of State, in the U.S. Senate.

According to DeSantis, Uthmeier is a “bulldog in our administration” who will not back down from a challenging battle. The Republican governor commended Uthmeier’s efforts throughout his administration, which included opposing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education as well as federal demands during the COVID-19 crisis. During the ceremony, DeSantis remarked, “James was always digging in and fighting for what was right even when it wasn’t easy throughout our administration.” In his speech, Uthmeier pledged to “strive daily to do what is right and to levy justice where it is due.” Uthmeier declared, “We will fight back against the cartels, the gangs, and the traffickers that have wreaked havoc on our country for far too long, and we will champion an America-first agenda.” “The left’s attempts to infiltrate our institutions and use the legal system to brainwash our children will not be tolerated.” We shall oppose those who seek to undermine our legally passed laws, undermine our constitutional system, and damage unborn children.

Earlier this month, DeSantis told the Yale Federalist Society that Uthmeier might file state charges against Dr. Anthony Fauci. The former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Fauci, was pardoned by President Joe Biden prior to his departure in order to protect him from any “revenge” by the Trump administration for his activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, he was appointed deputy general counsel at the governor’s office, and the following year, he was elevated to general counsel. Uthmeier was appointed chief of staff in 2021, but he took a leave of absence in 2023 to oversee DeSantis’ failed campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Uthmeier went back to his position as chief of staff after DeSantis resigned after losing to Trump by 30 percentage points in the Iowa caucuses.

Uthmeier was raised in the Florida beach town of Destin. He studied at the University of Florida, where he graduated with a master’s degree in international business and a bachelor’s degree in business administration and political science. He spent years in Washington after graduating from Georgetown Law School in 2014, working as a law clerk in Rubio’s office throughout that time. Prior to becoming a senior adviser to then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in the Trump administration in 2017, he was an associate at the prestigious law firm Jones Day. Throughout the last six years, Uthmeier has assisted in planning and defending some of the governor’s most contentious and dubious legal actions, such as a state-funded attempt to transport roughly fifty migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in   Massachusetts.

Additionally, Uthmeier chaired two political groups, the Florida Freedom Fund and Keep Florida Clean, which gathered over $1 million to defeat ballot items that would have legalized marijuana for recreational use and increased abortion rights in 2024. Although most Florida voters supported the proposals, DeSantis’ office utilized state funds and his significant influence to oppose them, causing the initiatives to fall short of the 60% threshold. The Attorney General’s Office of the state has a history of supporting DeSantis and Trump’s conservative objectives. Moody fought for months to prevent Florida’s 2024 ballot from include initiatives for legal marijuana and abortion rights. He was one of the Republican attorneys general who entered a lawsuit requesting that the Supreme Court reverse Biden’s election victory in the 2020.