DeSantis sets timetable for naming Rubio Senate successor amid calls for a Trump to fill the seat

"Senator Marco Rubio is expected to resign from the Senate to assume duties as Secretary of State when the Trump administration takes power on January 20th, creating a vacancy roughly two months from today," DeSantis wrote in a statement Monday morning.

The governor highlighted that "we have already received strong interest from several possible candidates, and we continue to gather names of additional candidates and conduct preliminary vetting. More extensive vetting and candidate interviews will be conducted over the next few weeks, with a selection likely made by the beginning of January."

Among those who have touted Lara Trump over the past couple of days include Florida's other GOP member of the U.S. Senate - Sen. Rick Scott - Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Katie Britt of Alabama, as well as Rep. Anna Paulina Lune of Florida.

"Florida deserves a Senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation's fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results," DeSantis said in his statement.

Amid the calls for Lara Trump to be named to fill Rubio's seat, the statement by DeSantis can be seen as a signal that he would not be rushed into making any hasty decision.

A source in DeSantis' political orbit simply said that "the statement speaks for itself."

Other names floated to replace Rubio include DeSantis's chief of staff James Uthmeier, Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez and state Attorney General Ashley Moody, outgoing Florida House Speaker Paul Renner and former state House Speaker Jose Oliva.