Politics

Donald Trump heads to D.C. for inaugural festivities

Published

2 weeks ago

January 18, 2025

Donald Trump will return to Washington Saturday to kick off days of pageantry to herald his second inauguration as President.

The pageantry begins Saturday, when the President-elect leaves his Florida home to head to Washington. Trump’s advisers have not detailed how he will spend the first part of the day, and the only public event on Trump’s schedule is an evening reception and fireworks show at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, outside the city.

While Trump holds court at his club, Vice President-elect JD Vance will attend a reception for Cabinet members and host a dinner in Washington.

On Sunday, the eve of his inauguration, Trump is scheduled to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery before heading to a rally at Capital One Arena in Washington. The rally will be followed by a private dinner.

On Inauguration Day, Trump will start with the traditional prayer service at St. John’s Episcopal Church before heading to the White House for a customary tea with the outgoing president and first lady.

Trump then heads to the Capitol, where his ceremony has been moved indoors as temperatures are set to plummet and make it the coldest Inauguration Day in 40 years. It’s not quite clear how the ceremony will be adapted to the Capitol Rotunda, but only a fraction of the original crowd will be allowed in.

After Trump takes the oath of office and delivers his inaugural address, there will be a ceremonial farewell to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. As the new Republican government takes power, Trump will head to a signing ceremony at the Capitol to approve some of his first official acts, followed by a congressional luncheon and review of U.S. troops.

The planned traditional parade down Pennsylvania Avenue has morphed into an indoor event because of the cold, with Trump again planning to speak to his gathered supporters before he heads to the White House for a signing ceremony in the Oval Office. A trio of glitzy balls will follow in the evening, punctuated by musical performances.

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Republished with permission of the Associated Press.

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Politics

Gov. DeSantis teases budget proposals, including tax cuts and Highway Patrol pay hike

Published

29 minutes ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

‘They’ve done a lot of missions in addition to just the normal stuff. So they deserve that.’

While formal budget and spending proposals aren’t available yet, Gov. Ron DeSantis says they’re coming by the “end of the weekend” as required.

And though he was true to his word when he told a Destin audience that he was “not going to necessarily go into a lot of it” on Friday, DeSantis mentioned some ways he wanted to help people keep more of their money.

On at least one of them, Floridians will be able to make that decision if DeSantis gets his way.

He said that “any taxes we can eliminate” are up for grabs, including a move to “crack down on property taxes in the state” through a constitutional amendment on next year’s ballot.

“Homestead deduction needs to dramatically increase for people,” DeSantis said, given the increasingly high cost of housing driven by “demand” and other factors, including insurance rates.

The administration will “be working over the next year, year and a half to see what we can present for voters to be able to vote in the next election for some major, major property tax limitations and relief,” along with “some other tax stuff.”

Spending will increase in one way, meanwhile, with proposed pay increases for highway patrol troopers pending in light of deployments to the Mexican border.

“They’ve done a lot of missions in addition to just the normal stuff. So they deserve that, and we’re going to make sure that we get that done,” DeSantis said.

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Tom Fabricio measure would keep some complaints against law enforcement, correction officers confidential

Published

60 minutes ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

Law enforcement officers and correctional officers could have certain complaints lodged against them kept off their records if a new bill filed Thursday passes.

Miami Lakes Republican Rep. Tom Fabricio’s measure (HB 317) would exempt records of any investigations made into complaints against a law enforcement officer or a correctional officer from their personnel file under certain conditions.

Complaints filed against officers would be required to be given under oath and submitted in writing, and if an officer is subject to an interrogation that could lead to disciplinary action, then all information related to the investigation would have to be given to the officer or their representative before any interrogation into the allegations could begin, according to the bill.

That would include the names of the person or persons who filed the complaint, all witness statements, and any supporting evidence such as incident reports, GPS locator information, and video and audio recordings.

Florida statute currently states, “all information obtained pursuant to the investigation by the agency of the complaint is confidential,” and is exempt from public record until the investigation “ceases to be active” or until the agency decides whether to file charges against the officer.

The measure would amend that statute, adding that the officer be “provided a copy of the complaint signed by the complainant under oath before the effective date of the action.”

Current law already allows officers facing disciplinary action the right to address the findings with their respective agency heads before any disciplinary action can be imposed.

However, the new measure would allow such records to be left out of an officer’s personnel file if the investigation into their conduct did not end in disciplinary action. Furthermore, the existence of the investigation would not affect an officer’s ability to be promoted, get a pay raise, or receive a commendation.

Under the bill, the contents of both the complaint and the investigation would remain confidential until a final determination is made by investigators. The bill does not guarantee continued employment for officers under investigation.

The bill would further protect law enforcement and correctional officers protections by establishing penalties against those who make false complaints. Under the bill, someone found guilty of filing a false complaint could be charged with a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.

If passed, the bill would become law on July 1.

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Gov. DeSantis ready to ‘get in the game’ of migrant transfers to GITMO

Published

2 hours ago

January 31, 2025

May Greene

President Trump has ordered the Cuba-based detention center to be prepped for full capacity as part of his deportation push.

Saying Guantánamo Bay is a “hell of a lot closer” to Florida than Martha’s Vineyard, Ron DeSantis reiterated interest in sending migrants there in accordance with a Donald Trump executive order.

“I think it’d be a great place, quite frankly, to have criminal aliens,” DeSantis said Friday in Destin, adding that Florida is “going to be able to assist” moving undocumented immigrants to the base in Cuba.

The Governor has made this case all week that the state is a logical launching pad for deportations.

DeSantis posted to social media Wednesday that he’s “happy to send flights from Florida down that way with deportees in tow,” in the wake of Trump saying he’s telling the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to “begin preparing the 30,000 person migrant facility at Guantánamo Bay” for an influx of undocumented immigrants.

“What better state to take advantage of that than the state of Florida,” he told podcaster Dave Rubin Tuesday.

DeSantis also said this week “deputized” state forces who can “make the same decisions” as Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the Border Patrol could also “take them back to Haiti or the Bahamas or wherever they are coming from, right on the spot” if they “intercept them on the sea.”

The Trump Executive Order calls “to expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to full capacity to provide additional detention space for high-priority criminal aliens unlawfully present in the United States, and to address attendant immigration enforcement needs … in order to halt the border invasion, dismantle criminal cartels, and restore national sovereignty.”

It does not contemplate a state role in extradition or extraterritorial transport.

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