Tallahassee, FL—Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is promising to veto an immigration bill that just passed, setting up an intra-party fight. The bill passed during a special legislative session, would allocate more than $500 million to local immigration enforcement agencies, increase penalties for undocumented immigrants, and create a new state office under Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson. But DeSantis said that was not enough and attacked Republican lawmakers for not doing more to toughen immigration laws.
The governor’s governor’s decision comes amid an increasingly heated power struggle between him and Florida’s Republican legislative leaders. House Speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton have been operating more independently, resisting DeSantis’ move to muscle his will into the legislative process. Perez directly targeted the governor’s actions: “Threatening others to get your way isn’t leadership. It’s immaturity.”
Tensions escalated after DeSantis pushed for a special session against lawmakers’ wishes. In response, the Republican Party of Florida began texting constituents and asking them to lean on legislators who resisted his wishes. It backfired, with GOP lawmakers openly pushing back in public – many seeing DeSantis as politically weakened after his failed presidential run. “This is the party of President Donald Trump, not the party of Governor DeSantis,” said State Representative Juan Carlos Porras, brazenly.
It widened further when Republican lawmakers crossed DeSantis by overriding one of his previous vetoes of a budget item rare challenge to his authority. The immigration bill passed, but several lawmakers allied with DeSantis voted against it because they felt the bill was not tough enough. State Senator Blaise Ingoglia, a close DeSantis ally, announced, “I cannot vote for this because it is nowhere near strong enough for my taste.” Meanwhile, Trump-aligned Republicans were working behind the scenes, with State Senator Joe Gruters consulting the White House on revisions to the bill.
DeSantis would not budge, promising that he would have no problem vetoing the bill and forging his path for more hard-nosed immigration reform. If the legislators keep challenging him, he is likely to hold more special sessions, and lawmakers may attempt even more overrides on vetoes. With DeSantis hitting a term limit in 2026 and Trump very much dominant within the Republican ranks, power appears to be sifting away in Florida’s GOP.
