Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis may be losing his grip over the Republican legislature at the end a session that has been spent pushing through his agenda.
GOP legislators have spent hours and hours debating and passing bills seemingly aimed at supporting his presidential ambitions, but his announcement that he wanted them to revive a war on Disney has privately frustrated many of his Republican allies, reported Politico.
“We’re not the party of cancel culture," said one GOP legislator. "We can’t keep doing this tit for tat.”
The whispers are growing louder in the statehouse, and Republicans are stalling some of his remaining legislative priorities as this year's session winds down, but so far none of them are willing to speak out publicly -- but at least one House Republican has told a former colleague that he was prepared to resign in frustration.
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“People are deeply frustrated,” said former state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican who's been in contact with his former colleagues during the session. “They are not spending any time on the right problems ... Most legislators believe that the balance of power has shifted too far and the Legislature needs to re-establish itself as a coequal branch of government.”
Many GOP legislators told Politico they still support DeSantis' priorities but complained their own bills have been set aside by legislative leaders working with the governor's office, and some of them said the Republican supermajority made it easier for leaders to ignore their complaints.
“I think our Republican colleagues are done,” said state Sen. Jason Pizzo, a South Florida Democrat. “I think they are fed up. There’s obviously still some true believers and there’s some very loyal and allegiant individuals and groups … They would like him to hurry up and announce and start focusing exclusively on other stuff other than here.”
