After a months-long warpath against the GOP-led Florida House, Gov. Ron DeSantis has found a new bone to pick with another conservative group: the Republican Party of Florida.
DeSantis slammed the RPOF on Monday for offering to host a summit between the governor and legislative leaders to facilitate talks on the state budget, negotiations on which have stalled due to souring relations between the House and Senate.
"That's not the role of the Republican Party of Florida," he said at a Tampa press conference on Monday. "We're not going to do a dog and pony show. That's not the way this works. The way it works is people should do their jobs."
Party chairman Evan Power had proposed the meeting on Friday following an unprecedented level of dysfunction and vitriol between the legislative chambers, whose inability to agree has led to an overtime Session, stymied bills, and no framework for a budget due by July 1.
“It’s like a circular firing squad,” said one Republican familiar with the party dynamics.
How Did We Get Here?
Tensions between DeSantis and House Speaker Danny Perez have been high since the Miami Republican assumed his role late last year. Perez stressed the need for his chamber to be “independent” of the governor, leading to a never-before-seen rebellion by House Republicans against DeSantis.
And though the two have traded bitter insults for months, it wasn’t until Senate President Ben Albritton sided with DeSantis over Perez after the governor threatened to veto the Speaker’s tax cut plan that their fragile relationship and even weaker budget framework “blew up.”
Now Perez wants to stretch the already-extended legislative session until June 30, the day before a budget is constitutionally required.
The rare yet massive show of infighting amongst a party with a vice grip on Florida politics—including over 1.2 million more registered Republicans than Democrats—emblemizes the chaos and hostility emanating from a state Capitol where leaders aren’t getting along.
“What’s happening now is the result of one-party rule gone unchecked,” Democrat Sen. Shevrin Jones told The Floridian. “Republicans have had full control of Florida for over 20 years—and instead of delivering solutions, they’re stuck in public power struggles that are delaying the budget and hurting real people.
“Floridians deserve leadership, not chaos. To hell with party dynamics—governing is about people, not egos,” he added.
After DeSantis turned his ire on RPOF on Monday, Power declined to respond in the same biting fashion as the governor.
“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,” Power said in a statement to The Floridian.
