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Florida GOP Leaders Reluctantly Announce Special Session Time Amid Tensions with DeSantis

Weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis sparked a political power struggle with Republican lawmakers, the Legislature on Friday showed signs of falling in line with his call for a special session by announcing its start time. But it won't happen willingly.

In a memo issued Friday, Republicans Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Danny Perez announced—with tinges of reluctance—that the special session will begin at 10:30 a.m. Monday, as DeSantis requested. The memo, however, did not specify what topics would be addressed during the session.

"As we are constitutionally required, the Florida Senate and House of Representatives will convene in special session on Monday, January 27th at 10:30 a.m. in our respective chambers," the letter reads, urging lawmakers to make travel arrangements as soon as possible. "We look forward to seeing you in Tallahassee."

The memo echoes a veiled threat in an earlier letter, published last week hours after DeSantis announced that he would call a special session focusing on illegal immigration, condo reform, and the petition process.

DeSantis Backs Trump’s Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship, Worries About Court Ruling

Though Gov. Ron DeSantis strongly approves of President Donald Trump's new executive order ending birthright citizenship for illegal immigrants, he doesn't think it will hold up in the Supreme Court.

Gov. DeSantis referred to one of Trump's 26 executive orders issued on his first day in office, which clarifies that children of illegal immigrants do not automatically gain U.S. citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Though the amendment grants citizenship to "all persons born" in the United States, Trump argues that children born to illegal parents are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and, therefore not citizens.

"The purpose of the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause was to overturn the Dred Scott case, not to bestow citizenship on those present in the US against the people’s will as expressed in law," DeSantis posted on X. "The Trump executive order will be litigated until the Supreme Court decides the question (which it has never decided) of whether children born to illegal aliens get constitutionally-mandated citizenship."

DeSantis later responded to an X user speculating how "great" it would be if a "Lib justice" on the Supreme Court could retire and be replaced with a conservative one to greenlight the order when it is inevitably challenged in the nation's highest court. 22 states have already sued to block it.

Marco Rubio’s first trip abroad as secretary of state: He’ll visit Central America

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make his first official trip abroad next week to Central America, including a stop in Panama, which President Donald Trump has riled with talk of trying to reclaim the Panama Canal.

Rubio, a former Florida senator who is the son of Cuban immigrants, will also visit El Salvador, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic, department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said Thursday.

She said the destinations reflected his interest in the region and the importance of elevating ties with neighboring countries, particularly on combating illegal migration. “This is a serious approach by the secretary to deal with the issues that directly affect our ability to get this nation back on her feet and to deal with why there is such high migration,” Bruce said.

She said the trip “signals something to those countries, it should signal something to Americans and to those who also said that ‘America First’ was an isolationist argument. It is the opposite.”

Florida likely to shatter all-time snowfall record; more than 8 inches reported in areas of Panhandle

Back in 1954, 4 inches of snow fell in Santa Rosa County in the Florida Panhandle. That was the all-time 24-hour state record for Florida, and it stood for 71 years — until now. A rare winter storm that hammered the Panhandle and beyond on Tuesday is likely to shatter the state record, once it’s made official.

According to a National Weather Service employee, 8 inches fell in Oriole Beach in Santa Rosa County, not far from Pensacola. The Weather Channel said there were 7.6 inches reported in Pensacola and 8.8 inches reported in Milton. Dozens of people on social media shared videos of the incredible amounts of snow seen across the region.

As amazing as it was to see so much snow, state officials said the snow created dangerous conditions on the roads that many Floridians are not used to and urged people to stay home, if possible.