Latest news with #TacklingandReformingUnlawfulMigrationPolicy
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill Cotterell: Florida Republican politicians line up to show loyalty to Trump
In addition to their official duties, like passing laws and running the government, Florida Republican politicians seem determined to one-up each other in showing devotion to everything President Donald Trump has ever said, done or might think of in the future. U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna looks like the momentary front runner in cringeworthy flattery. She's introduced a bill directing the U.S. Department of the Interior to carve Trump's face on Mount Rushmore. 'Honest' Abe and that 'I cannot tell a lie' guy might get up and leave if the neighborhood goes to hell like that. But Luna believes Trump's 'bold leadership and steadfast dedication to America's greatness' make him fit to gaze o'er the South Dakota Badlands forever. The Pinellas County congresswoman's idea probably won't get far in Congress, considering the tiny GOP majority in the House. But sponsoring the bill assured the little-known second-termer a day or two of media attention and gives Luna bragging rights if any challenger tries to out-sycophant her in a Republican primary next year. And Trump himself is known to prefer fealty laid on with a dump truck. Meanwhile, back home in Florida, legislative leaders broke up with Gov. Ron DeSantis and decided Trump's brand of aggressively deporting illegal immigrants is this year's new cool thing. DeSantis had summoned a special legislative session, purportedly to prepare Florida for the Trump illegal immigration crackdown, but House and Senate leaders took the topic away from him politically and literally. First, Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez abandoned the governor's special session and immediately convened one of their own, just to set the agenda. Then they overrode a DeSantis budget veto from last year, which is sort of like leaving a horse head in his bed. And then they shelved some other business the governor had wanted, and wrote their own immigration crackdown bill. For their next middle finger aimed at the governor, Perez and Albritton stretched real hard and found the most cloying, fan-boy acronym imaginable for their legislation. They named it the TRUMP Act — for 'Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy.' A couple of years ago, Albritton and Perez might have dubbed it the DESANTIS Act — for 'Deport Every Single Alien National That I See' — back when he ran everything. But Trump is the object of their worship now, not DeSantis. No legislation has strained so hard for a memorable label since the 1986 petition campaign creating the state lottery, which was called MOVE — meaning 'Margin Of Victory for Education.' (Education Commissioner Ralph Turlington, who led the lottery campaign, had to drop the MOVE moniker after a radical group by the same name had a tragic and deadly clash with Philadelphia police.) People United For Medical Marijuana — an acronym pronounced 'puff 'em' — was a pretty catchy tag for the first effort at legalizing medical marijuana. But that wasn't nearly as neatly named as the TRUMP Act. Better yet, there's the added pleasure of making Democrats wince every time they say it, kind of like when the Republicans named Florida's Turnpike for Ronald Reagan in 1998. The clearest signal that DeSantis' six-year dominance of the House and Senate is over came when the Legislature decided to vest headline-making immigration police powers not in his office but with Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. DeSantis and Simpson are not the best of pals. Simpson is considered a likely candidate to succeed DeSantis in two years, when the governor can't run again. DeSantis contends that putting an agriculture commissioner in charge of illegal immigration enforcement would be, literally, 'putting the fox in the hen house,' because farming is heavily dependent on migrant labor. Simpson, Albritton and Perez talked up their dedication to helping Trump during the special session. Simpson even dropped a reference to DeSantis running against the president in last year's primaries, which didn't end well for the governor. But even in his lame duckery, DeSantis remains the most powerful Republican in Florida. For two more years, he will appoint people to major offices and sign or veto bills and budget items vital to the ambitions of legislators. Bright and early the day after the special session, DeSantis began campaigning against the legislative package, saying it would actually weaken immigration enforcement and make Florida 'a de facto sanctuary state.' And he vowed to veto the TRUMP Act, assuring that the immigration issue — and his new feud with House and Senate leaders — will carry forward into the 2025 legislative session and beyond. Bill Cotterell is a retired Capitol reporter for United Press International and the Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at wrcott43@ JOIN THE CONVERSATION Send letters to the editor (up to 200 words) or Your Turn columns (about 500 words) to letters@ Please include your address for verification purposes only, and if you send a Your Turn, also include a photo and 1-2 line bio of yourself. You can also submit anonymous Zing!s at are published on a space-available basis. All submissions may be edited for content, clarity and length, and may also be published by any part of the USA TODAY NETWORK. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bill Cotterell: Florida Republicans racing to show fealty
Gulf Today
06-02-2025
- Politics
- Gulf Today
DeSantis appears to be winning the war on social media
With an open presidential primary coming in 2028, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching an offensive to win back supporters of the Republican leader whom he dared to challenge in the last election. And he's doing so by latching onto President Donald Trump's most prominent issue — immigration. The problem for DeSantis is his own state's Republicans think they know Trump better. DeSantis last week ordered lawmakers into a special legislative session to pass a raft of border-related proposals he floated, including criminal charges for officers if they didn't enforce immigration measures and restrictions on people who send money to families outside the US. Within minutes of the session convening, legislators tossed out the governor's proposals and called their own special session. They ignored many of his requests and presented their own bill that cedes much of DeSantis' power on immigration enforcement to the state's agriculture commissioner. Lawmakers titled it the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP, Act. The battle has exposed the term-limited governor's struggles to regain the power he lost in his first White House run as he prepares for a potential second try. Having led Florida's transformation from a perennial swing state to one that votes solidly Republican, DeSantis is betting on his feel for his state's voters, who delivered a second term by a huge 19-point margin. But he has struggled to capture the unstoppable aura he had before he went against Trump — and his relative lack of relationships with lawmakers hasn't helped. 'This is a relationship business,' Republican political consultant Jamie Miller said. 'And he is not good at the relationship side.' DeSantis' office did not respond to a request for comment. Back in 2023, when DeSantis braved the frigid Iowa winter to run for president — and brought some loyal legislators to campaign for him — he sold himself to voters as a brash, bold executive, a more effective version of Trump. And he could point to the results, thanks to the Florida legislature. For six years, DeSantis kept lawmakers in line with his veto pen. But as DeSantis' chances faded on his way to a blowout loss in the Iowa caucuses, the presidential sheen wore off. In a sign DeSantis was not proving a threat to Trump, the Republican Party of Florida voted in September 2023 not to require participants in the state's 2024 presidential primary to pledge to support the eventual nominee, which ensured Trump would not have to pledge support to DeSantis when the two were locked in a bitter campaign. DeSantis would never gain the national traction his campaign had set out to demonstrate, and would be out of the race within a week of the leadoff Iowa caucuses. Despite a year of Trump's taunts, they reached a public rapprochement last May, when DeSantis agreed to convene his top donors to raise money for Trump. 'Ron, I love that you're back,' Trump said during a conference call to the donors as they gathered at a Fort Lauderdale hotel, raising $3 million in a day for Trump's campaign. By December, DeSantis had worked his way into the discussion for Trump's defence secretary when Pete Hegseth encountered public resistance. Hegseth was ultimately confirmed. DeSantis has never been comfortable with the backslapping and favor-trading side of politics, which some of his most influential supporters say may rub some lawmakers the wrong way. Even among his admirers, DeSantis is known for having little patience for greasing the wheels of government — shaking hands and making phone calls. Trump, meanwhile, is well-known for his personal touch, often calling lawmakers for their input and inviting current and would-be allies to his Mar-a-Lago estate or his other properties. And now the governor's attitude is costing him, some capitol watchers say. Last month, when DeSantis announced he was calling lawmakers into special session, House Speaker Daniel Perez told The Associated Press the legislature was 'blindsided.' 'I called him immediately,' Perez said. 'He didn't answer. He didn't call me back.' State Sen. Randy Fine is a former ally of the governor who later endorsed Trump in the 2024 primary. The president returned the favour after his victory by endorsing Fine in a Republican primary for the US House seat previously held by Mike Waltz, who was picked to be national security adviser. Last week, Fine won the contest with more than 80% of the vote and is on track to win the seat in April, despite not living in the district he hopes to represent. Fine compared his reward to the treatment of lawmakers who were loyal to DeSantis — and are now being attacked as 'Republicans in name only.' 'I was loyal. I'm going to Congress. They were loyal. They get called RINOs who want amnesty,' Fine said. 'There are female members of the Legislature who went to Iowa a year ago and walked through the snow to help him and got frostbite. And now a year later they're RINOs who want amnesty? I think it's hard to describe the sense of betrayal.' Both sides of the argument over Florida's immigration battle say they are best capturing Trump's desires. The governor said the legislature's measure is a 'betrayal' of conservative voters and naming it after the president is a 'misnomer.' 'President Trump has been very strong coming out of the gate on immigration enforcement. He wants to solve this problem once and for all. The bill they did is more window dressing,' DeSantis said in a video he posted on X. Transferring his power to the agriculture commissioner, he said, would be like putting the 'fox in charge of the hen house,' implying farmers want to continue to hire immigrants who are in the country illegally. But legislators say they have Trump's blessing. The bill sponsor, the Florida House speaker and the state senator expected to be sent to Congress visited the White House on Monday to celebrate NHL's defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. 'The whole goal of this bill is to help President Trump do his job,' said Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, a bill sponsor and Trump ally. He said Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the president and immigration hard-liner, gave lawmakers 'technical guidance' and they made changes to the bill 'to make sure we're doing everything that the president's team wants.' DeSantis has picked up some support along the way. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a key Trump ally who might run to replace the term-limited DeSantis next year, said his own relationship with the governor 'got frayed' when Donalds backed Trump two years ago. But last week, Donalds said in a podcast the governor was 'correct' that he needed to have enforcement powers over immigration. Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, chimed in on social media to highlight DeSantis' proposals. The think tank Roberts leads drafted Project 2025, the blueprint for a hard-right turn in American government and society that has inspired a number of Trump actions. 'Now is not the time for watered-down proposals,' Roberts posted on X, giving DeSantis a 'bravo.' Neither the president nor the White House has publicly expressed an opinion. The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this story. For now, DeSantis appears to be winning the war on social media and conservative airwaves, said Miller, the political consultant. 'But we all know that that microphone can be taken away with one tweet,' he said.
Boston Globe
05-02-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump's idea to ‘take over' the Gaza strip is widely rejected. Follow live updates.
Russian ally hails suspension of US foreign aid — 10:24 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press The president of a Serb-dominated part of Bosnia says US funding has inflicted 'serious evil' around the world for years. Milorad Dodik was sanctioned by the Biden administration over allegations of corruption and separatist policies that are undermining the US-brokered peace agreement that ended the 1992-95 war in Bosnia. In an interview with The Associated Press, he praised Trump's election as 'a magnificent event in the new political history.' He also claimed that the US Agency for International Development has been used to destabilize nations. The FAFSA federal student aid form will no longer offer 'nonbinary' as a gender option — 10:12 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press The Education Department says 'male' and 'female' will be the only options on the form from now on, in response to Trump's order for the federal government to use only binary definitions for sex. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Other planned updates aim to make the 2026-27 FAFSA form more user-friendly — especially the way students 'invite' parents to fill out their portion. Sending the invite was a major source of trouble in last year's botched FAFSA overhaul, which became a black eye for the Biden administration. Advertisement Congress demanded an overhaul to simplify the form in 2020, but delays and glitches marred the Biden administration's rollout last year. It meant students had to wait months to find out how much financial aid they would be offered for college, and advocates fear it may have deterred some students from going to college at all. DeSantis battles Florida Republicans to align with Trump — 9:46 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press With an open presidential primary coming in 2028, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is launching an offensive to win back Trump supporters as he prepares for a potential second try for the presidency. But Florida Republicans think they know Trump better. When DeSantis ordered a special legislative session to pass his border-related proposals, legislators swiftly tossed out his ideas and presented their own bill to move gubernatorial power on immigration enforcement to the agriculture commissioner. They named it the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP, Act. Advertisement Republican political consultant Jamie Miller said DeSantis appears to be winning the war on social media and conservative airwaves for now, 'but we all know that that microphone can be taken away with one tweet.' Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during a news conference Sept. 16, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. John Raoux/Associated Press What does the removal of USAID workers mean? — 9:43 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press The mass removal of thousands of staffers overseas and in Washington would doom billions of dollars in projects in some 120 countries, including security assistance to partners such as Ukraine as well as development work for clean water, job training and education, including for schoolgirls under Taliban rule in Afghanistan. The US is the world's largest humanitarian donor by far. It spends less than 1 percent of its budget on foreign assistance, a smaller share of its budget than some countries. Health programs like those credited with helping end polio and smallpox epidemics and an acclaimed HIV/AIDS program that saved more than 20 million lives in Africa already have stopped. So have monitoring and deployments of rapid-response teams for contagious diseases such as an Ebola outbreak in Uganda. Hundreds of millions of dollars of food and medication already delivered by U.S. companies are sitting in ports because of the administration's sudden shutdown of the agency. Democratic lawmakers and others say the USAID is enshrined in legislation as an independent agency, and cannot be shut down without congressional approval. Supporters of USAID from both political parties say its work overseas is essential to countering the influence of Russia, China and other adversaries and rivals abroad, and to cementing alliances and partnerships. The decision to withdraw direct-hire staff and their families earlier than their planned departures will likely cost the government tens of millions of dollars in travel and relocation costs. Advertisement Senator Chuck Schumer decries a 'hostile takeover'. Elon Musk calls him 'hysterical' — 9:40 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press Congress is proving little match for DOGE. Lacking the votes as Republicans largely remain silent, they're supporting a rush of lawsuits demanding court interventions to stop the Republican president's team from unilaterally gutting government. And protests are erupting outside government agencies and clogging the congressional phone lines. 'Whatever DOGE is doing, it is certainly not — not — what democracy looks like or has ever looked like in the grand history of this country,' Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. 'An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,' Schumer posted on Musk's social media site X. Musk responded on his platform: 'Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that DOGE is doing work that really matters.' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer holding hands with Representative Maxine Waters accompanied by other members of Congress, speaks during a rally against Elon Musk outside the Treasury Department in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2025. Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press Trump's administration is pulling almost all USAID workers off the job worldwide — 9:34 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied By the Associated Press The Trump administration said that it is pulling almost all US Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field worldwide, moving to all but end a six-decade mission to shore up American security by fighting starvation, funding education and working to end epidemics. The administration notified USAID workers in emails and a notice posted online, the latest in a sudden dismantling of the aid agency by returning political appointees from President Trump's first term and billionaire Elon Musk's government-efficiency teams who call much of the spending on programs overseas wasteful. The order takes effect just before midnight Friday and gives direct hires of the agency overseas — many of whom have been frantically packing up households in expectation of the announcement — 30 days to return home unless they are deemed essential. The notice said contractors not determined to be essential also would be fired. Wednesday, Feb. 5 Catching up on Trump's comments from yesterday? Start here. — 9:30 a.m. .cls-1{clip-path:url(#clippath);}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:none;}.cls-2,.cls-3,.cls-4{stroke-width:0px;}.cls-5{clip-path:url(#clippath-1);}.cls-3{clip-rule:evenodd;} Link copied Advertisement By the Associated Press Trump's suggestion for the US to 'take over' the Gaza strip came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take 'ownership' in redeveloping the war-torn territory into 'the Riviera of the Middle East.' Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed in quickly on Trump's idea in a sharply worded statement, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a 'firm, steadfast and unwavering position.' The prime ministers of Australia and Ireland, foreign ministries from China, New Zealand and Germany, and a Kremlin spokesman all reiterated support for a two-state solution.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Latest: Trump challenges bedrocks of American democracy
When Elon Musk debuted the Department of Government Efficiency recently at the Capitol, House Speaker Mike Johnson enthusiastically predicted the coming Trump administration would bring 'a lot of change around here.' Three weeks in, the change President Donald Trump has brought is a disruption of the federal government on an unprecedented scale, dismantling longstanding programs, sparking widespread public outcry and challenging the very role of Congress to create the nation's laws and pay its bills. Government workers are being pushed to resign. Entire agencies are being shuttered. Federal funding to states and nonprofits was temporarily frozen. And the most sensitive Treasury Department information of countless Americans was opened to Musk's DOGE team in an unprecedented breach of privacy and protocol. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. An opposition movement is gathering steam online, with plans to protest across the U.S. on Wednesday. Here's the latest: DeSantis goes to battle with Florida Republicans in trying to get closer to Trump With an open presidential primary coming in 2028, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching an offensive to win back Trump supporters after as he prepares for a potential second try for the presidency. He's doing it by pushing Trump's most prominent issue — immigration. The problem for DeSantis: Florida Republicans think they know Trump better. When DeSantis ordered a special legislative session to pass his border-related proposals, legislators swiftly tossed out his ideas and presented their own bill to move gubernatorial power on immigration enforcement to the agriculture commissioner. They named it the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP, Act. Republican political consultant Jamie Miller said DeSantis appears to be winning the war on social media and conservative airwaves for now, "but we all know that that microphone can be taken away with one tweet.' Read more about how DeSantis is trying to win Trump supporters. Trump wants USAID workers off the job and out of the field The Trump administration says it's pulling almost all U.S. Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field, worldwide. The order takes effect just before midnight Friday and gives agency staff overseas 30 days to return home unless they're deemed essential. The notice posted online Tuesday says contractors not determined to be essential also would be fired. The move had been rumored for several days. Thousands of USAID employees already have been laid off and programs worldwide shut down after the Republican president imposed a sweeping freeze on foreign assistance. Senators find Trump's comments 'crazy,' if they acknowledge hearing them at all 'He's completely lost it,' said Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn. 'He wants a U.S. invasion of Gaza, which would cost thousands of American lives and set the Middle East on fire for 20 years? It's sick.' 'No wonder Elon Musk is in charge of the government. This guy has no connection to reality,' Murphy added. The Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said he wasn't ready to comment on Trump's remarks. 'I'm not doing any hallway interviews today, none at all – especially if it's about Gaza,' Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho said Tuesday night. 'I haven't heard it, the statement or anything else, the context.' Sen. Chuck Schumer decries a 'hostile takeover'. Elon Musk calls him 'hysterical' Congress is proving little match for DOGE. Lacking the votes as Republicans largely remain silent, they're supporting a rush of lawsuits demanding court interventions to stop the Republican president's team from unilaterally gutting government. And protests are erupting outside government agencies and clogging the congressional phone lines. 'Whatever DOGE is doing, it is certainly not — not — what democracy looks like or has ever looked like in the grand history of this country,' Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said. 'An unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government,' Schumer posted on Musk's social media site X. Musk responded on his platform: 'Hysterical reactions like this is how you know that DOGE is doing work that really matters.' Trump's administration is pulling almost all USAID workers off the job worldwide The Trump administration said that it is pulling almost all U.S. Agency for International Development workers off the job and out of the field worldwide, moving to all but end a six-decade mission to shore up American security by fighting starvation, funding education and working to end epidemics. The administration notified USAID workers in emails and a notice posted online, the latest in a sudden dismantling of the aid agency by returning political appointees from President Donald Trump's first term and billionaire Elon Musk's government-efficiency teams who call much of the spending on programs overseas wasteful. The order takes effect just before midnight Friday and gives direct hires of the agency overseas — many of whom have been frantically packing up households in expectation of the announcement — 30 days to return home unless they are deemed essential. The notice said contractors not determined to be essential also would be fired. ▶ Read more about USAID Trump and Musk shake foundations of US democracy When Elon Musk debuted the Department of Government Efficiency, House Speaker Mike Johnson enthusiastically predicted 'a lot of change around here.' Three weeks in, that change is a disruption of the federal government on an unprecedented scale, dismantling longstanding programs, sparking widespread public outcry and challenging the very role of Congress to create the nation's laws and pay its bills. Government workers are being pushed to resign. Entire agencies are being shuttered. Federal funding to states and nonprofits was temporarily frozen. And the most sensitive Treasury Department information of countless Americans was opened to Musk's DOGE team in an unprecedented breach of privacy and protocol. An opposition movement is gathering steam online, with plans to protest across the U.S. on Wednesday. ▶ Read more about how Trump is dismantling the U.S. government U.S. allies reject Trump's musings on Gaza Trump's suggestion for the U.S. to 'take over' the Gaza strip came at a White House news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu smiled several times as the president detailed a plan to build new settlements for Palestinians outside the Gaza Strip, and for the U.S. to take 'ownership' in redeveloping the war-torn territory into 'the Riviera of the Middle East.' Saudi Arabia, an important American ally, weighed in quickly on Trump's idea in a sharply worded statement, noting that its long call for an independent Palestinian state was a 'firm, steadfast and unwavering position.' The prime ministers of Australia and Ireland, foreign ministries from China, New Zealand and Germany, and a Kremlin spokesman all reiterated support for a two-state solution.
CBS News
05-02-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
DeSantis battles Florida GOP in trying to get closer to Trump
With an open presidential primary coming in 2028, Gov. Ron DeSantis is launching an offensive to win back supporters of the Republican leader whom he dared to challenge in the last election. And he's doing so by latching onto President Donald Trump 's most prominent issue — immigration. The problem for DeSantis is his own state's Republicans think they know Trump better. DeSantis last week ordered lawmakers into a special legislative session to pass a raft of border-related proposals he floated, including criminal charges for officers if they didn't enforce immigration measures and restrictions on people who send money to families outside the U.S. Within minutes of the session convening, legislators tossed out the governor's proposals and called their own special session. They ignored many of his requests and presented their own bill that cedes much of DeSantis' power on immigration enforcement to the state's agriculture commissioner. Lawmakers titled it the Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy, or TRUMP, Act. The battle has exposed the term-limited governor's struggles to regain the power he lost in his first White House run as he prepares for a potential second try. Having led Florida's transformation from a perennial swing state to one that votes solidly Republican, DeSantis is betting on his feel for his state's voters, who delivered a second term by a huge 19-point margin. But he has struggled to capture the unstoppable aura he had before he went against Trump — and his relative lack of relationships with lawmakers hasn't helped. "This is a relationship business," Republican political consultant Jamie Miller said. "And he is not good at the relationship side." DeSantis' office did not respond to a request for comment. DeSantis struggles with Florida's GOP leadership Back in 2023, when DeSantis braved the frigid Iowa winter to run for president — and brought some loyal legislators to campaign for him — he sold himself to voters as a brash, bold executive, a more effective version of Trump. And he could point to the results, thanks to the Florida legislature. For six years, DeSantis kept lawmakers in line with his veto pen. But as DeSantis' chances faded on his way to a blowout loss in the Iowa caucuses, the presidential sheen wore off. In a sign DeSantis was not proving a threat to Trump, the Republican Party of Florida voted in September 2023 not to require participants in the state's 2024 presidential primary to pledge to support the eventual nominee, which ensured Trump would not have to pledge support to DeSantis when the two were locked in a bitter campaign. DeSantis would never gain the national traction his campaign had set out to demonstrate, and would be out of the race within a week of the leadoff Iowa caucuses. Despite a year of Trump's taunts, they reached a public rapprochement last May, when DeSantis agreed to convene his top donors to raise money for Trump. "Ron, I love that you're back," Trump said during a conference call to the donors as they gathered at a Fort Lauderdale hotel, raising $3 million in a day for Trump's campaign. By December, DeSantis had worked his way into the discussion for Trump's defense secretary when Pete Hegseth encountered public resistance. Hegseth was ultimately confirmed. DeSantis attitude impacts his efforts DeSantis has never been comfortable with the backslapping and favor-trading side of politics, which some of his most influential supporters say may rub some lawmakers the wrong way. Even among his admirers, DeSantis is known for having little patience for greasing the wheels of government — shaking hands and making phone calls. Trump, meanwhile, is well-known for his personal touch, often calling lawmakers for their input and inviting current and would-be allies to his Mar-a-Lago estate or his other properties. And now the governor's attitude is costing him, some capitol watchers say. Last month, when DeSantis announced he was calling lawmakers into special session, House Speaker Daniel Perez told The Associated Press the legislature was "blindsided." "I called him immediately," Perez said. "He didn't answer. He didn't call me back." State Sen. Randy Fine is a former ally of the governor who later endorsed Trump in the 2024 primary. The president returned the favor after his victory by endorsing Fine in a Republican primary for the U.S. House seat previously held by Mike Waltz, who was picked to be national security adviser. Last week, Fine won the contest with more than 80% of the vote and is on track to win the seat in April, despite not living in the district he hopes to represent. Fine compared his reward to the treatment of lawmakers who were loyal to DeSantis — and are now being attacked as "Republicans in name only." "I was loyal. I'm going to Congress. They were loyal. They get called RINOs who want amnesty," Fine said. "There are female members of the Legislature who went to Iowa a year ago and walked through the snow to help him and got frostbite. And now a year later they're RINOs who want amnesty? I think it's hard to describe the sense of betrayal." Both sides of the argument over Florida's immigration battle say they are best capturing Trump's desires. Using immigration to garner Donald Trump's favor The governor said the legislature's measure is a "betrayal" of conservative voters and naming it after the president is a "misnomer." "President Trump has been very strong coming out of the gate on immigration enforcement. He wants to solve this problem once and for all. The bill they did is more window dressing," DeSantis said in a video he posted on X. Transferring his power to the agriculture commissioner, he said, would be like putting the "fox in charge of the hen house," implying farmers want to continue to hire immigrants who are in the country illegally. But legislators say they have Trump's blessing. The bill sponsor, the Florida House speaker and the state senator expected to be sent to Congress visited the White House on Monday to celebrate NHL's defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. "The whole goal of this bill is to help President Trump do his job," said Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters, a bill sponsor and Trump ally. He said Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to the president and immigration hard-liner, gave lawmakers "technical guidance" and they made changes to the bill "to make sure we're doing everything that the president's team wants." DeSantis has picked up some support along the way. U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, a key Trump ally who might run to replace the term-limited DeSantis next year, said his own relationship with the governor "got frayed" when Donalds backed Trump two years ago. But last week, Donalds said in a podcast the governor was "correct" that he needed to have enforcement powers over immigration. Kevin Roberts, the president of the Heritage Foundation, chimed in on social media to highlight DeSantis' proposals. The think tank Roberts leads drafted Project 2025, the blueprint for a hard-right turn in American government and society that has inspired a number of Trump actions. "Now is not the time for watered-down proposals," Roberts posted on X, giving DeSantis a "bravo." Neither the president nor the White House has publicly expressed an opinion. The White House did not respond to a request for comment for this story. For now, DeSantis appears to be winning the war on social media and conservative airwaves, said Miller, the political consultant. "But we all know that that microphone can be taken away with one tweet," he said. ___ Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Associated Press writer Thomas Beaumont in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed to this report. Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
