Florida lawmakers and Governor Ron DeSantis are in a standoff over an immigration package passed by the legislature. Government watchers are saying political ambitions are likely at the center of what is fueling it.
The governor called a special session on immigration with his own priority bills, but when the legislature met, they gaveled out his session, tossing his policies, and gaveled in again to pass their own, dubbed the TRUMP act. The measure is meant to help the state cooperate with the federal government on immigration.
DeSantis has pledged to veto the bill.
“I don't need to get any attention. I don't need to get any fanfare. I don't need to get any credit for this,” he said.
The governor says the bill passed by lawmakers isn’t strong enough. He also disagrees with provisions that take away his control of state immigration enforcement by giving those duties to the agriculture commissioner.
“I hope that the legislature would listen to the constituents, listen to the outcry, come up with really strong proposals, outdo me, do better than me, and then you guys get the credit. I don't need, I don't need any credit,” he said.
Lawmakers have been striking back. State Senator Randy Fine, a cosponsor of the TRUMP act, questions DeSantis’ loyalty to President Donald Trump—pointing to DeSantis’ presidential primary run.
“I’m not going to take lectures from someone who, a year ago, didn't think Donald Trump should be President. Welcome to the team. And there has been no one on the team more dedicated to President Trump being successful than the guy in the front row who is running this bill,” he said.
University of Central Florida Political Science Professor Aubrey Jewitt believes the fight is a symptom of a fractured relationship between most of the legislature and DeSantis. The governor has vetoed budget priorities in recent years that were championed by the same lawmakers who passed bills that thrust him into the national spotlight. Jewitt said that has led to little trust in DeSantis among legislative Republicans.
“One of the things that the legislative leaders talked about was getting behind someone that you could trust when you were talking about Trump, and you know, in a sense, that was a backhanded compliment in suggesting that they could trust Trump, but maybe not DeSantis,” he said.
Susan MacManus, political science professor emerita at the University of South Florida, thinks the standoff is political infighting in preparation for 2026 and beyond. With the Florida Democratic party at its weakest in decades, MacManus thinks it makes sense infighting with Florida Republicans is how future leadership in the state will be determined.
“It's an age-old fact in politics that when one party controls everything, then the infighting and the competition starts happening within that party, and you have intra party battles, instead of bipartisan or one party versus another kind of battles. So this is what you know. This is, this is textbook politics,” she said.
MacManus says DeSantis likely wants to repair his relationship with Trump and keep national relevance for a potential 2028 presidential run. Meanwhile the legislature’s bill would give immigration enforcement authority to current agriculture commissioner Wilton Simpson.
He’s the most recent former Florida House Speaker and on the shortlist for who will run for governor when DeSantis is out of office in 2026. Immigration enforcement responsibilities could put Simpson in the spotlight, helping to boost his public profile for a potential run.
But MacManus says the infighting likely isn’t what Republican voters want, especially after an election cycle just passed. She also thinks it offers something for Democrats in the state to cheer for, when they haven’t had any positives in a while.
“What is going on and the turmoil within the Republican Party in Tallahassee, and the minutia and the personalities and the political ambitions that are driving all of that to people outside it looks like a family feud, and they really aren't in the mood for it,” she said.
Whatever the outcome of this standoff, experts say infighting among Florida Republicans is likely to continue as people maneuver to climb the political ladder.
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