What's on the menu for Florida over recess

Politico

5 days ago

Good morning and welcome to Wednesday.
Members of Florida's House delegation have their marching orders while they're in town for the August recess, and a big focus will be President DONALD TRUMP's 'Big Beautiful Bill Act' on taxes and immigration.
Democratic House members plan to bash what they're calling the 'Big Ugly Law' as they try to find messaging that sticks ahead of the 2026 midterms. Because the bill is so sweeping, it will have implications for Floridians.
Democratic Rep. DARREN SOTO already held a tele-town hall about the legislation this week and is planning roundtables next. Democratic Rep. FREDERICA WILSON said she'll be holding a tele-town hall making sure voters understand how their benefits will change.
'That means clearly saying what the law does,' Wilson said. 'It kicks people off healthcare, cuts SNAP and raises student loan and electric costs.' Democratic Rep. KATHY CASTOR urged residents in her district to take advantage of clean-energy tax credits, including on solar panels, that are set to expire, as the Florida Phoenix reported.
'Electric bills are sky high and will get worse because the Big Ugly Bill rips away help for cleaner, cheaper energy and home energy improvements,' she told Playbook in a statement, accusing Republicans of passing the bill for 'powerful special interests.'
Republicans have prepared how to respond. This week, POLITICO's Andrew Howard got ahold of a five-page memo from the National Republican Congressional Committee — the House's campaign arm — advising members what to say during recess. For example, it directs them to cast upcoming Medicaid work requirements as a way to strengthen the program. The tipsheet also highlights tax relief and funding for border enforcement.
GOP Rep. VERN BUCHANAN plans to highlight how the law eliminates federal taxes on overtime for law enforcement officers when he hosts the district's annual law enforcement awards. He'll also hold roundtables with small businesses and veterans to talk about the bill's other tax cuts and said he wants to hear from health care providers about lowering medical costs.
Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration is likely to be a big topic as well, especially given that 'Alligator Alcatraz' continues to face backlash in the courts and at press conferences. Wilson, for instance, said she planned to make an unannounced visit to an ICE detention facility.
Also happening: The recess period additionally gives members a chance to compile research and oversight and to highlight legislation they're pushing. Rep. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ this week visited a naval shipyard and VA hospitals as part of her oversight work as the top Democrat on appropriations in these areas.
GOP Rep. BYRON DONALDS is attending NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 launch Thursday as he pushes for NASA's headquarters to be relocated from Washington to Florida and for the Air Force to modernize Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 37.
GOP Rep. RANDY FINE will hold a press conference in August about his bill that would launch a study about turning parts of Ocala National Forest into Florida Springs National Park, making it eligible for National Park Service funding. GOP Rep. LAUREL LEE is helping constituents get ready for hurricane season and hosting a Veterans Resource Fair in Tampa on how to access benefits and services.
WHERE'S RON? Gov. DeSantis is holding a press conference in Tampa at 10 a.m. (Tune in at the Florida Channel.)
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... DATELINE TALLAHASSEE ...
MUM'S THE WORD — The Florida Legislature so far is giving Gov. Ron DeSantis the silent treatment when it comes to redistricting.
DeSantis last week said there was 'ample justification' for Florida to join states such as Texas and change its congressional map midway through the decade instead of waiting until 2032, after the next U.S. Census. The Republican governor suggested his administration 'was working through what that would look like.'
GOP leaders in the House and Senate are declining to publicly comment on the governor's suggestion — which has happened several times in the past year when legislative leaders have been cool to recommendations pushed by DeSantis. DeSantis has clashed repeatedly with House Republicans this past year over everything from taxes to immigration.
But it doesn't mean that legislative leaders have outright rejected the concept. One key consideration, however, is that any wide-scale changes to redistricting could force local election officials to scramble ahead of the 2026 elections to redo polling places and precinct lines.
— Gary Fineout
TODAY — The environmental lawsuit challenging the existence of 'Alligator Alcatraz' is back in federal court in Miami today. U.S. District Judge KATHLEEN WILLIAMS, an Obama-era appointee, will hear arguments over whether the case should be moved north to the federal district that serves Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa.
Miami-Dade County owns and operates the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport where the airstrip housing the facility is located, though the area is mostly located in unincorporated Collier County. Lawyers for the state on Tuesday cited two cases involving detainees that were transferred because the judge said the facility is in Collier County.
— Kimberly Leonard and Bruce Ritchie
MORE NEWS OUT OF 'ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ'
— The Mexican Consulate is issuing travel warnings to its citizens: 'Two brothers detained at Alligator Alcatraz, including a Mexican citizen vacationing in Orlando on a valid tourist visa, are now back home in Mexico City, their father said at a press conference Monday,' reports Natalia Jaramillo of the Orlando Sentinel.
— Hurricane plans are still pending: The Miami Herald's Alex Harris requested 'the completed hurricane/disaster plan for Alligator Alcatraz' from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, and it yielded no results. KEVIN GUTHRIE, the executive director for the division who's led the state through numerous hurricane response efforts, said last week that the agency was considering several options including state prisons.
RECORD NUMBER OF EXECUTIONS — DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for CURTIS WINDOM, who was convicted of killing three people in 1992, reports Jim Saunders of News Service of Florida. Windom would be the 11th person to be on death row this year in Florida — which, according to The Associated Press, has outpaced all other states.
AG THREAT — 'Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is threatening to have Orange County commissioners and Mayor Jerry Demings removed from office if they don't back down from their refusal to let corrections officers transport immigrants to federal detention facilities,' reports Ryan Gillespie and Kairi Lowery of the Orlando Sentinel.
— 'Florida leaders hid money for controversial higher education project,' reports Jason Garcia of Seeking Rents.
— 'Hope Florida charity says DeSantis officials didn't need to report gifts,' by Lawrence Mower of the Tampa Bay Times.
PENINSULA AND BEYOND
STILL INTERIM — University of Florida interim President KENT FUCHS isn't going anywhere — at least not for now. Fuchs, who has been in charge at UF since August 2024 after former Sen. BEN SASSE resigned, agreed Tuesday to stay on board with the university until Sept. 1. This gives UF another month to find a new interim leader, as Fuchs' contract was set to expire.
UF is planning to launch a presidential search early next year in what will be a high-profile decision on the heels of state leaders denying the school's original choice, University of Michigan President Santa Ono, over his past support of diversity, equity and inclusion programs, among other issues.
— Andrew Atterbury
CITY OF MIAMI ELECTIONS SAGA — A three-judge panel in Florida's Third District Court of Appeal sounded skeptical about the city's vote to delay its election by a year, reports Tess Riski of the Miami Herald. A lower court stuck down a 3-2 vote by city commissioners to move the election from November of this year to November of 2026, saying voters should be the ones to get a say. Changing the elections would result in more time in office for commissioners and for Miami Mayor FRANCIS SUAREZ, who was briefly a 2024 Republican candidate for president.
— 'Cancer patients in Haiti face death sentence due to distance, gangs, lack of resources,' reports Jacqueline Charles of the Miami Herald.
— 'Tri-Rail's board says even cutting service might not solve FDOT's surprise $27M cut,' reports Chris Persaud of the Palm Beach Post.
DATELINE D.C.
TODAY — The Senate Special Committee on Aging, which is chaired by Sen. RICK SCOTT, is holding a hearing at 3:30 p.m. on how to create stronger protections against elder abuse. Witnesses include MARICELA MORADO, president and CEO of Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida. (Tune in here.)
FORCING A VOTE ON A POPULAR ISSUE — 'Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna will attempt to force a House vote on a congressional stock trading ban in September, creating a new headache for Speaker Mike Johnson when members return to Washington from their summer recess,' reports POLITICO's Meredith Lee Hill.
LATEST ON THE JEFFREY EPSTEIN FILES:
— Trump shares one reason he severed ties with Epstein: 'People were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, per POLITICO's Ben Johansen. 'When I heard about it, I told him, I said, listen, we don't want you taking our people, whether it's spa or not spa … And he was fine. And not too long after he did it again. And I said outta here.'
— Ghislaine Maxwell is playing hardball on congressional testimony: The convicted co-conspirator wants to see questions in advance, and relocate the deposition to outside the prison, among other demands, reports POLITICO's Hailey Fuchs and Josh Gerstein.
MTG HITS FINE — Rep. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-Ga.) became the first Republican member of Congress to use the term 'genocide' this week in reference to Israel's conduct in the war with Gaza, reports Robert Jimison and Annie Karni of The New York Times.
Greene used the term over social media while also calling it 'disgraceful' that Rep. RANDY FINE (R-Fla.) dismissed pictures of starving Gazan children as 'Muslim terror propaganda,' writing 'starve away' until Israeli hostages are set free.
Greene was also reacting to a story that said Fine appeared to have lost AIPAC's support — which AIPAC dismissed as 'unsourced and speculative.' The pro-Israel lobbying group noted that Fine was just elected in April and that it would consider its endorsement, along with that of other freshmen, later in the cycle. (GOP Rep. JIMMY PATRONIS of Florida, for instance, is not on the list and was elected the same day as Fine.)
'We will be endorsing candidates for the 2026 election throughout the cycle — current endorsees for 2026 so far are listed on the AIPAC-PAC website,' AIPAC spokesperson MARSHALL WITTMANN told POLITICO's Nicholas Wu.
Fine, who joined Congress after a special election in April, speaks openly about his Jewish faith and how defense of Israel is a key reason he's in Congress. 'Rep. Fine isn't going to comment on conversations that never happened,' his office said when asked about MTG, in reference to her saying the two of them met before his election.
— POLITICO's Nicholas Wu contributed reporting.
ODDS, ENDS AND FLORIDA MEN
SPOTTED — State Sen. JOE GRUTERS (R-Sarasota) was at a high-dollar Republican National Committee fundraiser with Vice President JD VANCE in Big Sky, Montana. Last week, Trump endorsed Gruters to be RNC chair.
BIRTHDAYS: POLITICO Florida editor Tyler Weyant … Bob Nave, senior vice president of research for Florida TaxWatch … The Associated Press' Freida Frisaro … Nancy Dahlberg, business writer and editor.