TALLAHASSEE—As Florida Republicans battle each other and the clock to pass a state budget before it's too late, hurling bitter insults for the better part of a month, House Speaker Danny Perez on Tuesday compared Gov. Ron DeSantis to a South Florida seventh grader.
Perez's jab came at a Tuesday press avail minutes after House members voted to stretch the already-extended session until the final day legally possible to pass a budget, June 30, despite the Senate remaining quiet on a double-overtime session.
The attack, likely the culmination of weeks of DeSantis' press conferences hosted to label the House as "rotten" and unproductive, follows an unusual breakdown in the Florida Republican Party. Despite Republicans holding an impressive supermajority, conservatives have begun to lob barbs in a "circular firing squad"-esque manner.
"The difference between the governor and the House, is the House is always willing to have the tough conversation. The governor isn't willing to have a conversation, period," Perez told reporters, ironically answering a question about party infighting.
"There's no difference between him and any seventh grader in Miami-Dade County right now who tweets," he continued, referencing his home district. "He should be asked every single day: why are you not wanting to have a tough conversation? What is it? Are you scared? Is he scared of having a tough conversation?"
DeSantis and Perez have had a strained relationship since the Miami Republican took office late last year. Perez, who urged his chamber to be "independent" from the governor, led a never-before-seen rebellion against DeSantis to cancel his January call for a special session.
Since then, the 37-year-old Speaker has helped investigate the First Lady's charity and called for a dueling tax cut proposal to the governor's, sparking DeSantis's latest bout of outrage. The anger hasn't been helped by the Legislature's inability to agree on a state budget—the only bill constitutionally required to pass.
If lawmakers can't approve a budget by July 1, the state government will shut down.
This massive snag has fueled other Republican-on-Republican clashes, including between Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton.
Though Albritton had previously been open to Perez's plan to permanently slash the state sales tax in the upcoming budget, the Wauchula Republican suddenly reversed course soon after DeSantis promised to veto the reduction, which he views to be worse than his own proposal to cut property taxes.
This caused budget deals to "blow up," Perez said Tuesday, admitting how upset he is with Albritton's alleged "breach" in negotiations.
As Perez and Albritton battle it out, DeSantis, not to be outdone, has since ripped on state GOP Chair Evan Power for suggesting he meet with the legislative leaders at a "leadership summit" hosted by the Republican Party of Florida to work out a much-needed budget framework.
"That's not the role of the Republican Party of Florida," DeSantis said 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."
