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Ron DeSantis says he will likely decide Marco Rubio’s successor by early January

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he is likely to make a decision on who will fill Marco Rubio’s U.S. Senate seat by early January, saying his office has already begun vetting several possible candidates and will continue to do so over the coming weeks. President-elect Donald Trump named Rubio as his pick for U.S. secretary of state last week, meaning the Miami native is likely to resign before Trump takes power on Jan. 20.

DeSantis said that his office has “already received strong interest from several possible candidates” but didn’t offer specifics about who may be seeking the Senate appointment. Still, a handful of contenders have been publicly floated among state and national Republicans in recent days, including Trump’s daughter-in-law, Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump.

Other possible choices include DeSantis’ chief of staff James Uthmeier, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, outgoing Florida House Speaker Paul Renner and former state House Speaker Jose Oliva.

“Florida deserves a Senator who will help President Trump deliver on his election mandate, be strong on immigration and border security, take on the entrenched bureaucracy and administrative state, reverse the nation’s fiscal decline, be animated by conservative principles, and has a proven record of results,” DeSantis said in a post on X.

Here’s how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to remake the nation’s top health agencies

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and environmentalist, for years gained a loyal and fierce following with his biting condemnations of how the nation’s public health agencies do business.

And that’s put him on a direct collision course with some of the 80,000 scientists, researchers, doctors and other officials who work for the Department of Health and Human Services, especially with President-elect Donald Trump tapping him to head the agency.

If confirmed, Kennedy will control the world’s largest public health agency, and its $1.7 trillion budget. The agency’s reach is massive. It provides health insurance for nearly half of the country — poor, disabled and older Americans. It oversees research of vaccines, diseases and cures. It regulates the medications found in medicine cabinets and inspects the foods that end up in cupboards.

A look at Kennedy’s comments about some of the agencies that fall within the HHS arena, and how he has said he plans to shake them up:

Florida's universities cut ties to ‘countries of concern’

Carrying out a 2023 law, Florida universities have been ending agreements and partnerships linked to seven “countries of concern.” The state university system’s Board of Governors next week is scheduled to receive a report about the law, which targeted ties to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela and Syria.

The law, in part, largely prevented state universities and colleges from participating in agreements or partnerships with schools based in the countries of concern. It also prevented such agreements or partnerships with “foreign principals,’’ which can include such things as governments or government officials, in the countries of concern.

Background information prepared for Wednesday’s Board of Governors meeting said four of Florida’s 12 universities reported that 140 agreements, partnerships and contracts were in place before the 2023 law took effect.

The background information said the universities terminated 77 of the 140 and allowed 47 to expire. Another six will expire by the end of this year, six will expire in 2025, and four will expire between 2029 and 2035, the information said.

Here’s how much hurricanes cost Florida businesses

Liz Calver is bracing her kid for a different kind of Christmas this year.

The St. Pete Beach shop owner’s story has become gruesomely familiar. Her home and shop were inundated with saltwater from Hurricane Helene. She lost a steady source of income overnight and has scraped by with financial help from loyal customers and fellow business owners.

Calver is trying to temper her 8-year-old son’s hope that, if he writes a long letter, Santa will replace the toys he lost to flooding. “I’ve said, ‘There’s a lot of people that have lost a lot of things, and a lot of kids that don’t have anything all over the world, so Santa’s got his work cut out for him this year,’” Calver said.

Weeks after Helene and Milton, Florida businesses and their employees are still paying a staggering toll, according to claims business owners voluntarily filed with the state. Of the $350 million in damages reported statewide, more than half was concentrated in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties, covering nearly 2,000 businesses, making them the hardest hit in Florida.