Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
A few days ago, the big question in Florida politics was whether lawmakers would hold a Special Session or simply gavel in and gavel out.
Lawmakers convened on Monday to respond to DeSantis’ call — they are required to do so—and promptly rejected it, subbing in their own Special Session on immigration. The kicker: They also overrode the Governor’s veto of a $56 million appropriation funding legislative support services.
The money, included in the 2023-24 budget, was meant to pay for various functions of the Legislature: information technology for the House and Senate, the lobbyist registration office, joint committees, and the Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR). EDR is staffed by economists who make revenue forecasts for the state budget, which lawmakers use to craft a spending plan each year.
After righting what House Speaker Daniel Perez described as either “… at best a misunderstanding of the importance of the appropriation or at worst an attempt to threaten the independence of our separate branch of government,” the Legislature launched into its own Special Session on immigration.
Sen. Joe Gruters is carrying the main bill, which Senate President Ben Albritton said was meticulously crafted.
“Having taken the opportunity to review President (Donald) Trump’s executive orders, sought guidance and clarification from the White House team and taken into account the thoughts and feedback of many Senators and leaders of our law enforcement community, Sen. Gruters is sponsoring legislation to rigorously implement both the letter and the spirit of President Trump’s plan to secure the border, protect our state and national sovereignty, support Florida law enforcement, and affirm the federal government’s responsibility over immigration,” Albritton said.
DeSantis, however, was unimpressed — in a tweet as lengthy as it was acerbic, the Governor said lawmakers’ pulled a “bait-and-switch” and enumerated the supposed shortcomings of the Legislature’s bill, namely that it “fails to put an enforceable duty on state & local law enforcement to fully cooperate on illegal immigration enforcement” and it “unconstitutionally removes authority to enforce the law from the Governor to a lower-level Cabinet agency, the Department of Agriculture.”
Evening Reads
—“113 predictions for Donald Trump’s second term” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—”Trump puts inflation on the back burner during first week” via Chris Megerian and Josh Boak of The Associated Press
—”Behind the Colombia blowup: Mapping Trump’s rapid-escalation tactics” via David E. Sanger of The New York Times
—”Trump rescinded a half-century of environmental rules. Here’s what that could mean.” via Dylan Mathews of Vox
—“Kash Patel’s cringe documentary teases what could be in store for the FBI” via Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone
—”Europe’s Elon Musk problem” via Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic
—”Senate, House rebuff Ron DeSantis’ Special Session call, then substitute their own vision” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—”Lawmakers defy DeSantis in shocking move, unveil own immigration plan” via Lawrence Mower, Ana Ceballos and Alexandra Glorioso of The Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times
—“Legislature restores $56M+ in support services vetoed by Gov. DeSantis” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics
—”China’s DeepSeek AI app sends U.S. tech stocks reeling” via Aaron Gregg, Shannon Najmabadi and Cat Zakrzewski of The Washinton Post
Quote of the Day
“The king has fallen.”
— Sen. Shevrin Jones, after lawmakers rejected Ron DeSantis’ Special Session and started one on their terms.
Put it on the Tab
Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.
It’s probably too early to give the Governor an Ozymandias. Still, the Legislature’s move shows that will is no longer law.
For his second round, the Governor will take another Old Fashioned Reverse, just like the one the Legislature served him when they undid the $56 million veto he handed down six months ago.
Brass Balls isn’t the most popular cocktail in the wild, but it’s apparently the go-to drink for the Legislature’s presiding officers.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Heat, Magic battling for playoff positioning
Florida’s two NBA teams meet for the fourth time this season as the Miami Heat host the Orlando Magic tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network-Florida, FanDuel Sports Network-Sun).
The two teams tipped off the season in Miami, with the Magic winning 116-97. The Magic then won the Dec. 21 matchup in Orlando 121-114, but the Heat bounced back five days later to win 89-88. Monday’s game is the last scheduled meeting between the two teams this season.
Orlando (24-23) sits half a game ahead of the Heat (22-22) in the Eastern Conference standings. If the season were to end today, both teams would be entered into the play-in tournament for the playoffs. Orlando is seventh in the conference, and Miami is eighth.
The Magic snapped a five-game losing streak with a 121-113 victory over Detroit on Saturday behind 32 points from Paolo Banchero. Miami won for the second time in seven games on Saturday, topping the Nets in Brooklyn 106-97. Tyler Herro led the Heat with 25 points.
Miami’s disgruntled star Jimmy Butler is due to return from team suspension. Butler sought a contract extension in the offseason, but the two sides could not find common ground. The Heat have until Feb. 6 to trade Butler.
___
Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
