Ryan Nicol
U.S. Sen. Rick Scott is starting the year strong after being picked to chair the Senate Steering Committee this week.
That comes after Scott landed on our winner’s list last week for reintroducing much-needed legislation to make daylight saving time permanent.
As Axios reported this week, the group is a collection of more conservative Senators in the caucus, several of whom backed Scott’s two recent bids for Senate Leader. Now, Scott will lead the Committee for at least the next two years.
Scott will succeed fellow Republican U.S. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah in the role. His newest selection builds on his success earlier this month, when Scott was named as Chair of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging.
Florida’s soon-to-be-senior Senator may have lost out in his efforts to lead the entire Republican caucus. But he launched those bids from a rightward flank, making a clear alliance with President-elect Donald Trump.
Now, Scott will be the leader of some of Trump’s most loyal allies in the body, allowing him to continue being a prominent voice in the years ahead.
Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.
Winners
Honorable mention: Pam Bondi, Marco Rubio. It was a week of musical chairs in Florida Politics, with those who landed a seat ending up as winners.
Both Bondi and Rubio had confirmation hearings this week in front of the Senate. And while neither appointment is official (Bondi as Attorney General and Rubio as Secretary of State), both appear to be on a clear path to confirmation.
Bondi’s hearings featured more pushback from Democrats. She faced tough questions, and didn’t always provide clear answers, on whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Bondi was also grilled on her previous lobbying work and her position on Special Counsels.
But while many Democrats left the hearing with concerns about Bondi’s independence as Attorney General, she also spoke to some concerns from the minority party. Bondi said the Department of Justice would never have an “enemies list” and she expressed an openness to talking with Senators about federal proposals containing similar gun regulations as Florida passed following the Parkland attack, when Bondi was Florida Attorney General.
Let’s be real: The chances of those passing Congress are slim to none. But Bondi deserves credit for not reflexively entering partisan warfare mode and getting defensive when asked about her support for those state-level proposals.
And while Democrats still have a litany of concerns with Bondi, this week’s hearings also saw former Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, a prominent Democrat in Florida, speak in support of Bondi on Capitol Hill. Democratic U.S. Sen. Peter Welch said Bondi did a “good job” during her hearing, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said he was “considering” whether to vote for Bondi while also voicing concerns.
Of course, Republicans have a majority in the Senate and need no Democratic support to approve President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees. Several Republicans would need to defect to tank Bondi or anyone else, and comments like the above from even Democrats make it highly unlikely that’s going to happen.
Rubio’s confirmation hearing was less eventful, save for some outbursts from protestors.
The Senate has a long history of approving colleagues named to administration posts. On top of that, Rubio’s foreign policy experience is well-respected, even among Democrats. He’s a lock to be the next Secretary of State once Trump takes office Monday.
And Rubio’s departure from the Senate led to a chain of moves rounding out our winners list for this week.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: James Uthmeier. With Gov. Ron DeSantis appointing Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody as Rubio’s replacement (more on that shortly), that opened a spot in DeSantis’ Cabinet.
Enter Uthmeier, DeSantis’ Chief of Staff turned presidential Campaign Manager turned Chief of Staff once again.
DeSantis while announcing his pick of Moody Thursday then awkwardly said he would wait to formally appoint her replacement until she departs for the Senate, while also essentially promising that replacement will be Uthmeier.
“My Chief of Staff, James Uthmeier, is kind of like Ashley. He’s proven himself in these fights,” DeSantis said in Orlando.
“I’m not going to make any appointment before it’s available, but I think that’s something that will happen.”
We floated this exact scenario as soon as Trump let loose that Rubio was his pick for Secretary of State. Elevating Moody allowed DeSantis to reward one of his most loyal staff members, and that opportunity appeared too good to pass up for the Governor.
Uthmeier now will serve out the final near-two years of Moody’s term before the position is up for grabs again in 2026. At that point, Uthmeier will have the option to run with incumbency and serve as Florida’s AG for eight more years.
After that, he would be in a strong position to go even further. Just look at what our last two Attorneys General have achieved.
The biggest winner: Moody. Congratulations to Florida’s new junior Senator. And with Moody just shy of 50, she could hold onto that seat for years to come.
Moody will be on the ballot again in 2026, where voters will choose who serves out the final two years of Rubio’s term, which was set to expire in 2028. After that, the seat will go back to its normal cycle of coming up every six years. That 2026 race could be contested, with U.S. Rep. Cory Mills already promising a run and other names floated.
But as we always say, this is a weekly column, and if those end up being problems at all for Moody, they are problems down the line.
For now, she is one of two Florida voices in the Senate and gets to serve as Trump enters the White House with a Republican Congress behind him. Moody will be instrumental in helping Trump hit the ground running and implement his ambitious agenda. All eyes will be on Washington, and Moody, a member from Trump’s home state, will be in a position to get plenty of spotlight.
And she’s well-positioned to make the most of it. Running alongside DeSantis in 2018 and 2022, it was actually Moody who got the most votes in Florida in both of those years. She’s been a lawyer at the high-powered firm Holland & Knight, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a Judge and don’t forget her tenure as the Florida Strawberry Queen.
Moody earned bipartisan praise this week, with good reason, when she earned the appointment. She brings serious experience into a serious role at a serious time. Now it’s up to her to make the most of the opportunity in Washington.
Losers
Dishonorable mention: TikTok. OK so it’s good news, bad news for the “digital fentanyl” this week.
The bad news: The U.S. Supreme Court Friday upheld a law banning TikTok if it’s not sold to an American owner. And the decision was unanimous, at 9-0.
The good news? President Biden also said this week he doesn’t plan to enforce the ban before departing office, leaving the matter to Trump.
Trump, of course, has signaled a willingness to fight to save TikTok since he benefited from it during the last presidential cycle. That’s despite the fact that his first administration kicked this whole process into action by attempting to ban TikTok, and members of his party — and his incoming administration — have been among the app’s loudest critics.
But with the Supreme Court upholding the law, what path forward is there, exactly?
TikTok’s owners have voiced extreme opposition to the law requiring a sale. The law, which is just now taking effect, actually doesn’t fully outlaw the app, it merely bans new downloads and updates. But parent company ByteDance has decided to bar use of the app entirely in the U.S. in opposition to the law.
So Trump’s options are limited long term. Maybe he can finagle a deal here beyond a 90-day extension he’s already floated. Maybe he can convince Congress to undo the law — which was passed overwhelmingly in bipartisan fashion — by adding some restrictive provision TikTok is comfortable with and calling it a major win, giving members cover to reverse the ban.
But for now, Generations Z and Alpha are in shambles and … what’s that? They’re running to download yet another China-controlled social media app?
Great job with the ban, guys. Mission accomplished.
Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: Bucs fans. We’re pouring out some Captain Morgan for our companions in Tampa after the Buccaneers ended their playoff-run with a first-round exit.
The Bucs were the only home favorite to lose this past weekend in the NFL playoffs, with rookie Jayden Daniels leading the Washington Commanders to a thrilling 23-20 win.
The Bucs were the only Florida team to make the playoffs, meaning Sunshine State football fans are left sitting on the sidelines from here on out.
Tampa Bay had a solid season all around, winning six of their final seven games to win the NFC South and secure a playoff spot. It’s the fifth straight year they’ve made the playoffs, dating back to the Super Bowl-winning run behind quarterback Tom Brady.
But since that win, the Bucs are 2-4 in the playoffs, getting no further than the second round the last four years.
Look, it’s better than the Dolphins and Jaguars have managed in recent years. And with the NFC South looking perpetually weak, maybe the Bucs can keep pulling out playoff berths in the years ahead.
But they look far away from contending for a title anytime soon, and losing at home to a team that won only four games last year isn’t a great feeling to end your season.
Then again, Washington’s performance Saturday night against Detroit had to take at least some of that sting off.
The biggest loser: Florida Democrats. The election is over, but the warning signs for the Florida Democratic Party (FDP) continue.
First, yet another elected official left the party. This time, it was Doral Vice Mayor Maureen Porras who swapped to the GOP. She joins Reps. Hillary Cassel and Susan Valdés in making the switch.
Sure, that doesn’t have quite the same effect as Republicans strengthening their supermajority in the Legislature. But it’s at least a sign that Democrats will need to continue to worry about more officials defecting going forward.
Then, Democrats had to weather the storm of Biden removing Cuba from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
Now to Florida Democrats’ credit, they joined with Florida Republicans in a bipartisan condemnation of the federal action, an unsurprising move for lawmakers who represent the nation’s largest Cuban American population.
Unfortunately, Republicans have proven they’re going to attack Florida Democrats over this issue anyway, meaning they’re likely to tar future candidates with Biden’s action regardless of whether Democrats deserve it.
Finally, FDP Chair Nikki Fried announced she is running for a full term leading the party after taking over in 2023. Here’s what we wrote in February 2023, when assessing why Fried might want to enter the race, despite the GOP’s massive success in 2022:
“The bar is so low for Florida Democrats — currently sitting in the earth’s outer core — that perhaps just outperforming expectations could let the next Chair keep their job and build their brand further.”
Fried actually managed to do that in multiple off-cycle contests, with Democrats winning the Jacksonville Mayor’s race and a Special Election for the House District 23 seat.
Then, Democrats fell flat on their face in November’s election.
Now in February 2023, we noted that the bar was low for Democrats. But ironically, by having some success in the interim, it appeared to build up some expectations for Dems that they very much failed to meet, getting completely wiped out in almost every competitive contest.
By Fried running again, are they boxing themselves into the same leadership that failed to deliver this past cycle?
Ironically, this may be the same situation Fried found herself in when first mounting a bid in 2023. Expectations could not be lower for Democrats here. Perhaps Fried is backing on a better off-year cycle with Trump not being on top of the ticket. If Democrats do any better in 2026, Fried can take credit. If she walks away now, she leaves as the face of the party in its worst performance in a Presidential Election year in modern history.
So we understand why she’s making this move. And maybe she has a plan here.
But given the Democrats’ last few months of mishaps, we wouldn’t bet on them turning this ship around anytime soon.
