Republican Representative Devin Nunes will be resigning his post from Congress to become the new chief executive officer of former President Donald Trump's social media company. Nunes will begin his work as the CEO of Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in January.
Nunes, who has no prior experience of heading a media or technology company, is currently the head of the House Intelligence Committee. The announcement of his resignation comes just days after TMTG revealed that it plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
The SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., is currently being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company has also reportedly been asked to provide more information about its deal with TMTG.
Shares of the SPAC surged by more than 7% in after-hours trading after TMTG announced that it was making Nunes its CEO.
Nunes, who previously worked as a dairy farmer at his family's business, is the 117th Congress's second member to quit before the conclusion of his tenure. Nunes would have been in a position to become chairman of the influential Ways and Means Committee if the GOP regained full control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections.
The 48-year-old politician has served in Congress since 2003, representing California's 22nd congressional district in the San Joaquin Valley. The San Joaquin Valley Sun, which broke the news of Nunes' retirement from Congress, pointed out that the current redistricting pattern in California indicated Nunes would have a stiffer reelection struggle in 2022.
From 2015 until 2019, when Republicans controlled the House, Nunes was the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. During the special counsel investigation into the Russian election meddling and probable cooperation between the Trump campaign and Russia, and subsequently, during Trump's first impeachment in the House, he earned a reputation as a fervent Trump supporter.
In a separate statement, Nunes said he was "humbled and honored" to have been picked by Trump to lead his fledgling social media company. Trump's company has not yet detailed a lot about its platform, which has been dubbed as "Truth Social."
Trump claimed that the platform would be a rival to Twitter and other social media companies. TMTG announced over the weekend that it plans to raise up to $1 billion through a merger with DWAC. The company claims that it has already secured "committed capital" from an unidentified group of investors, which will be provided once the deal is completed.
