These are the Top 10 federal stories in Florida politics in 2024

Image via AP.

Much of the political news important to Florida happens nearly 900 miles north of Tallahassee.

A wave of political appointments just put Florida’s political leaders into power in Washington as a barrage of powerful storms made the state dependent on responsible federal leadership for relief. Here are the top political news stories at the federal level that kept the Sunshine State’s eyes affixed on Washington.

Donald Trump’s Florida casting call

For the first time in U.S. history, a Florida man has won election as President of the United States. While Trump in his first term from 2017 to 2021 often treated Mar-a-Lago as his Winter White House, this election marked the first time he built and ran a political campaign headquartered in Palm Beach County.

That has impacted politics in Florida in significant ways for years. But once Trump won the presidential race in November, the President-elect’s reliance on Sunshine State talent became clear to the nation at large.

Trump Campaign Manager Susie Wiles was hired as White House Chief of Staff, while campaign Political Director James Blair has been picked as Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs. Taylor Budowich, who played a significant role in the campaign with pro-Trump PACs, will be Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel.

Other campaign operatives, including Danielle Alvarez, Alex Garcia and Brian Hughes appear White House-bound as well.

Meanwhile, current and former elected officials were tapped for high-profile political appointments. Trump hired U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, a St. Augustine Republican, as his National Security Adviser and initially nominated U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, though the latter withdrew (more on that later).

Trump still wants a Floridian, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, leading the Justice Department, while he wants U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to serve as Secretary of State. And if the Senate won’t confirm Fox News host Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary, there’s a strong chance Trump asks Gov. Ron DeSantis to take the Pentagon reins, putting Floridians in arguably the three most high-profile Cabinet posts.

But there’s more. He hired former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There’s even some word Trump may try to convince U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Parkland Democrat, to become the next Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator.

Iowa fair slaughter

Trump and DeSantis may be ending the year chatting at funerals about Cabinet positions and Senate appointments. But Florida’s two most prominent Republican politicians opened 2024 engaged in political warfare.

DeSantis, fresh off a 2022 landslide re-election, spent much of 2023 making the case he should be the Republican presidential nominee. Trump responded by grinding the Governor’s ambition to dust.

Things finally came to head during the Iowa caucuses. After DeSantis’ campaign had invested intensely in the first-in-the-nation delegate contest, Florida’s Governor failed to win in any of the Hawkeye State’s 99 counties. After suffering the brutal defeat on Jan. 15, DeSantis suspended his campaign for President in less than a week.

“If there was anything I could do to produce a favorable outcome, more campaign stops, more interviews, I would do it,” DeSantis said in a social media video. “But I can’t ask our supporters to volunteer their time and donate their resources if we don’t have a clear path to victory accordingly.”

Allies of DeSantis still anticipate he could make another run in 2028, when term limits mean Trump cannot seek a third term. But Florida’s own limits mean DeSantis can’t run for Governor again in 2026 either. That leaves an open question as to what DeSantis may do in the meantime, but plenty of options lay before him, some laid out by Trump or through other openings he created in the state’s political landscape.

Rubio’s departure for Foggy Bottom

Of all the political openings generated through Trump’s picks for a new administration, none may be so consequential in Florida as the choice to put Rubio in charge of the State Department.

As the first Hispanic Secretary of State in the nation’s history, Rubio will bring a deep knowledge of Latin American politics. Most obviously, this political leader raised in South Florida’s Cuban diaspora brings a keen interest in U.S. relations with a communist nation 90 miles from Florida’s shore.

But during his roughly 14 years in the U.S. Senate, the Miami Republican also engaged with leaders — and their opposition — in nations like Venezuela, Colombia and El Salvador. Many wonder how the Senator’s hawkish approach translates to a role as America’s chief diplomat, but the New Republic during Trump’s first presidency already identified Rubio as Trump’s “Shadow Secretary of State.”

In Florida, the greater speculation surrounds the job Rubio leaves behind. Vacating a Senate seat four years before the end of his team advances the calendar on the ambitions of many politicians. DeSantis will name a successor to fill in for Rubio at least through most of 2026, when a Special Election will determine who serves out the last two years of the outgoing Senator’s term.

The Governor said he will decide on a replacement by the start of Trump’s term on Jan. 20.

Trump for some time pushed for DeSantis to name daughter-in-law Lara Trump to the job, though the President-elect has since tempered expectations on that. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sure seems interested in the role, as do many DeSantis allies.

Of course, it’s notable that DeSantis ran for Senate himself in 2016 before Rubio, after suspending his own presidential campaign, decided to run for re-election. The Governor could appoint himself or a caretaker like his Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier, to the job in anticipation of a future run.

Rick Scott wins re-election, loses Majority Leader bid

From winning his first gubernatorial Primary by less than 40,000 votes to securing his Senate seat by a margin so tight it required a hand recount, Scott repeatedly squeaked into office in dramatically close elections. Until 2024.

The Naples Republican took more than 55% of the vote in November over Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in his biggest win in 14 years in politics. “We did it,” Scott told supporters on Election Day. “And for once we did it before midnight.”

The victory came after a dramatic shift in the Florida electorate since his 2018 upset of Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. Scott won six years ago when registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans. By November, Republicans held more than a 1-million voter advantage on the rolls. Senate Democrats didn’t invest until the final weeks of the race as control of the Senate started to clearly slip away — the GOP ultimately netted four seats nationwide — while Scott enjoyed the advantages of incumbency.

But the win in Florida preceded a loss in Washington. Two years after an unsuccessful challenge to longtime Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, Scott ran for Senate Majority Leader but came in third out of three candidates.

The Naples Republican fell short in the first vote with just 13 votes, and U.S. Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota advanced. Thune won on the second ballot.

Still, Scott enters a second term in the Senate with a greater mandate than any time of his career and a positive relationship with a President who claims residency in his home state.

Crashing the Gaetz

While multiple Trump appointees appear to be facing difficult confirmation battles, the only flame-out so far belongs to the only pick to quit their day job to join the administration.

Gaetz submitted his resignation from Congress within hours of his Attorney General nomination, also making clear he won’t return to Congress in January despite winning another term. That means a Special Election must unfold in the Panhandle to replace the Fort Walton Beach Republican.

Speculation has followed as to why Gaetz would leave with such urgency. But the House Ethics Committee appeared ready to publish findings of a multiyear investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use. After Gaetz left Congress, the report was initially withheld. But as Senators, including many Republicans, called for its release before confirmation hearings, Gaetz withdrew from consideration for the Cabinet post.

As the year drew to an end, Gaetz signed a television deal with One America News, seeming to end his political ambitions. But grumblings continued about the Ethics report, and the House Ethics Committee ultimately published the full report two days before Christmas..

That sparked an angry reaction from Gaetz, who acknowledged a history of womanizing before his marriage to Ginger Luckey, but said he never committed any crimes. He more recently threatened to show up to be sworn into Congress just so he could demand public disclosure of any settlements for sexual harassment allegations against any past members of Congress, then resign again to launch his new show.

Beyond consequences in Washington, the entire series of events has turned speculation toward his personal indiscretions and away from a once widely expected run for Governor in 2026.

Bill Posey-Mike Haridopolos switcheroo

The election cycle at one point seemed destined to bring little turbulence to the makeup of the congressional delegation. Every incumbent was seeking re-election, and appeared a favorite to win their districts.

Then hours before the qualification deadline, former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos’ name showed up as a candidate for Florida’s 8th Congressional District. Once the deadline passed, U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, a Rockledge Republican long-time friend of Haridopolos, announced he would retire and end a 16-year career in Congress.

The maneuver ensured an almost certain ascension to the U.S. House for Haridopolos, who went on to secure endorsements from House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rubio, Scott and a host of political figures. With only token opposition, Haridopolos won the Republican Primary in CD 8 with more than 72% of the vote, then cruised into office taking 62% of the vote against Democrat Sandy Kennedy in the General Election.

When a new Congress convenes on Jan. 3, Haridopolis will officially become a member of the U.S. House, the only Florida freshman with the opportunity to serve a full term (Special Elections to replace Gaetz and Waltz won’t conclude until April 1 and DeSantis plans to appoint a Rubio successor to start on Jan. 20). The shake-up in a few hours set up Haridopolos as an incumbent in 2026.

Foreign Affairs at full Mast

Despite Florida Republicans largely making the difference in the GOP holding a majority during the recent term, no Florida lawmakers chaired full committees for the two-year duration. But in December, the GOP Steering Committee ensured things will be different in January.

In a bit of a surprise selection, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Stuart Republican, won the gavel for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He will succeed U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican. Mast beat out three senior members of the committee for the Leadership spot.

An Army veteran who lost both legs while serving as a bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan. The 44-year-old won election to the House in 2016, and boasts a strong relationship to Trump and members of his family in Florida, including Donald Trump Jr. Mast in the current Congress serves as House Foreign Affairs Oversight Subcommittee Chair, so the topic remains clearly within his wheelhouse.

Three Florida lawmakers serving on the GOP Steering Committee — U.S. Reps. Vern Buchanan, Mario Díaz-Balart and Byron Donalds — issued a joint statement saying they had advocated for Mast to win the powerful position. Mast touted a working relationship with Rubio as both Florida Republicans prepare for critical roles in the foreign policy arena.

“I look forward to working with President Donald Trump, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, future Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Chairman Mario Diaz-Balart, and Speaker Mike Johnson to repair our broken foreign policy through a comprehensive State Department reauthorization,” Mast said.

Assassination committee and a rogue effort

Following an attempted assassination attempt on Trump at a Pennsylvania rally, the House appointed a Special Committee to investigate security lapses. Three Florida lawmakers landed spots on the committee — Moskowitz, Waltz and U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee. The work expanded following a second apparent attempt on Trump’s life at his own West Palm Beach golf course.

The lawmakers from both sides of the aisle heavily criticized the Secret Service, leading to the agency’s director resigning her post.

“The United States Secret Service has a no-fail mission to protect America’s leaders, and unfortunately, they failed at their core mission that day,” Lee said.

But another Florida Representative badly wanted a spot on the committee. Allies of U.S. Rep. Cory Mills publicly campaigned for him to be on the board, despite (or maybe because of) controversial comments asserting that security negligence may have been “intentional, as opposed to fecklessness.”

Mills said being passed over was “unfortunate but not surprising” as he refused to be House leadership’s “yes man” on the committee. But he formed his own independent all-Republican panel to do its own investigation.

“Although I won’t have subpoena powers, I will personally fund whatever is required for additional staff to further investigation and expose the truth,” he said.

FEMA political discrimination

Between a Presidential Election year and three hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast, emotions ran high through much of the Fall. That wasn’t helped by news that FEMA workers skipped offering help to at least 20 homes in Lake Placid because they had Trump signs in their yards.

FEMA fired supervisor Marn’i Washington for written instructions that said to avoid engaging certain homes, with Trump signs as one of the red flags. FEMA Administrator DeAnne Criswell testified to Congress that the practice violated principles of the federal agency, and that political discrimination would not be tolerated.

But that didn’t stop Florida members of Congress demanding further investigation. Buchanan, GOP Co-Chair of the Florida congressional delegation, led a letter to Criswell demanding further information and citing additional reports from constituents and within the agency suggesting the practice wasn’t so isolated.

“Americans deserve better,” he wrote. “In this country, we protect all our citizens, regardless of political affiliation. We urge FEMA to take swift and decisive action to address this issue, hold those responsible fully accountable and restore public trust in its ability to serve every American in need.”

Florida also sued FEMA over the political discrimination, and other lawmakers like U.S. Reps. Greg Steube and Anna Paulina Luna demanded further accountability in the agency before President Joe Biden leaves office.

Hinging government on relief

One area where Florida Republicans and Biden found themselves in total agreement was on the need to fund further disaster relief. But as the year wound down, the method for doing so paralyzed Congress, perhaps thrusting Johnson’s tenure as Speaker into doubt.

A year of natural disasters drained many of the federal funds dedicated to relief. Hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton all struck Florida in three months, leading to an exhaustion of many accounts. By mid-November, the White House sent a $98 billion request for emergency supplemental appropriations.

Previously, Biden had requested $20 billion that Johnson refused to consider before the election as a stand-alone bill. With the larger request in hand, Johnson included the funding in a continuing resolution negotiated with the Democratic Senate to take up in December.

But while he presented the legislation as a disaster relief fund, critics — most notably Trump and Department of Government Efficiency co-leaders Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy — opposed the deal.

Johnson withdrew the measure and put out a leaner request, but that was shot down by most Democrats and 38 Republicans in the House this month. That left the House scrambling both to fund any disaster relief and to keep the government funded through Christmas. A deal was ultimately reached the weekend before Christmas, but it punted on a demand from Trump to raise the debt ceiling before the end of the year, and it still drew 34 dissenting votes. But it did include $110 billion in disaster relief and agriculture aid.