Staff Reports
Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.
First Shot
Gov. Ron DeSantis will not participate in a summit proposed by the Republican Party of Florida to bridge divides between him, Senate President Ben Albritton, and House Speaker Daniel Perez on a budget that is running late.
“That’s not the role of the Republican Party of Florida,” DeSantis said. “We’re not going to do a dog and pony show. That’s not the way it works. The way it works is: People should do their jobs.”
The state party’s unprecedented offer to broker peace via “thoughtful discussion and aligned decision-making” clearly struck the Governor as extraneous.
“You don’t need a summit to just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” DeSantis added.
RPOF chair Evan Power was undaunted by DeSantis’ words.
“Floridians want historic tax reform, and the Republican Party is always ready to help in any way possible to advance the goals of our Republican team,” he said Monday.
DeSantis continued to take the House leadership to task, calling them a “little junta.”
“Some of these folks in the House leadership, they have a personal agenda. They have vendettas, petty. It’s not being driven by strong policy and they’re trying to really deviate in a variety of ways,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis also said, “The House leadership has kind of careened off course the whole Session,” criticizing their intransigence during the illegal immigration Special Session earlier this year.
“I don’t know what got into the water. I think it’s just the leadership is driving these guys in a poor direction. It’s not the direction that their voters wanted. It’s not what they campaigned on.”
Read more on Florida Politics.
Evening Reads
—“Smooth operator” via Nick Catoggio of The Dispatch
—”Can Democrats really win the Senate in 2026?” via Nate Silver of the Silver Bulletin
—“U.S., China agree to lower most tariffs for 90 days amid trade talks” via Lily Kuo, Christian Shepherd and Lyric Li of The Washington Post
—“The Federalist Society is surprisingly ambivalent about Donald Trump” via Ian Millhiser of Vox
—”The immigration pendulum is swinging once again” via Nick Miroff of The Atlantic
—“Here is everything that has changed since congestion pricing started in New York” via Emily Badger, Stefanos Chen, Asmaa Elkeurti, Winnie Hu, Francesca Paris and Ethan Singer of The New York Times
—”White South Africans arrive at Dulles as refugees under Trump order” via Teo Armus and Emily Wax-Thibodeaux of The Washington Post
—“Did you shoot somebody in self-defense? There’s an insurance policy for that” via Mark Maremont and Tawnell D. Hobbs of The Wall Street Journal
—“Ron DeSantis says ‘dust still settling’ but LG, CFO picks to happen ‘relatively soon’” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
—”‘Where’s the cavalry?’: DeSantis slams other red states for failing to fight illegal immigration” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics
Quote of the Day
“I did say I wanted to get through the Legislative Session and see how the dust settled. Obviously, dust is still settling.”
— Gov. Ron DeSantis, on appointing the next Lt. Governor and CFO.
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.
Broward Judge Lauren Peffer gets Deep Fake Negroni as she wades through allegations of spreading misinformation while on the campaign trail last year.
The Governor is waiting for the “dust to settle” before announcing picks, but after a lengthy vacancy in the Cabinet, we’re suggesting a Rush.
With the First Coast manufacturing scene rattled by trade turmoil, it’s time for a Tariff My Old Fashioned.
Breakthrough Insights
Tune In
Marlins continue Chicago road trip
The Miami Marlins open a three-game series in Chicago against the Cubs tonight (7:40 p.m. ET, FanDuel Sports Network Florida).
Miami (15-24) is coming off losing two of three in the Windy City to the White Sox, including a 4-2 loss on Sunday. In the game, Marlin’s starter Sandy Alcantara surrendered a three-run home run in the sixth inning that provided the winning margin for the White Sox.
Miami is scheduled to send Cal Quantrill (2-3, 7.11 ERA) to the mound to start the game against Chicago’s Colin Rea (2-0, 2.23). Rea has won both of his decisions this season, while Quantrill looks for his first victory since April 25.
The Marlins are last in the National League East division. Only the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies have fewer wins among National League teams.
The Cubs (23-18) lead the National League Central by a game over the St. Louis Cardinals. Chicago right fielder Kyle Tucker has hit 10 home runs and driven in 32 runs; both are the fifth most in the league. Cubs’ center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is third in the NL with 13 stolen bases, two more than Miami’s Xavier Edwards.
Nearly a quarter of the way through the season, Miami is on pace to equal last year’s lowly mark of 62 wins, the club’s worst finish since 2019 and the third-worst season in franchise history.
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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.
