Is a DeSantis dynasty imminent?

Not so fast, says Florida’s Governor, though he notes it’s “flattering” that it’s being discussed after reportage that First Lady Casey DeSantis is being talked up as a “very real” possibility as the logical successor to her husband as Governor, there may not be fresh polling.

“She’s a force of nature. I think people look at it, they say, ‘Well, the Governor won by 20 points. Obviously Casey would do better because she’s so much better’, but it’s not something that she’s seeking out,” Gov. Ron DeSantis said on the Ingraham Angle.

He believes that “a lot of people are just concerned about the future of the state,” which drives speculation.

“But this is not anything new,” he added. “People have been asking her to do this for a long time, but she’s not seeking to do anything. But it’s flattering that people are asking her to do it.”

Fresh reporting from Matt Dixon of NBC News says differently, with a “source familiar with her thinking” suggesting it’s a possibility.

“I would say this: I have heard donors have been urging her to run and that while it’s not something she has wanted to do, they are causing her to at least stop and listen,” Dixon cites his source.

Gov. DeSantis paints his wife as more ideologically pure than he is, which won’t stifle speculation.

“She’s one of the rare political spouses,” he told Ingraham. “Even though I’m probably the most conservative Governor in the country, she may even be more conservative than me.

Give the Governor credit for consistency: He said in May that if he “had to hypothesize her interest in getting into the political thicket as a candidate,” he would “characterize it as zero.”

That said, polls show Florida Republicans have more than “zero” interest in the DeSantis family remaining in the Governor’s Mansion.

Per a June polling memo from Florida Atlantic University, she leads a field of candidates with 43% support, ahead of Byron Donalds at 19%, with Jimmy Patronis and Matt Gaetz further back still.

A poll conducted in April by FAU showed 38% of 372 Florida Republicans polled would choose the First Lady in a head-to-head race against Gaetz, who would receive 16% support in that scenario.

A University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab survey from November 2023 showed the First Lady with 22% support, a lead in a crowded field of potential candidates.

While she previously acknowledged the talk is “humbling,” she also maintains that the seeming enthusiasm for her running is due to her “rock star” husband and the job he’s done as the state’s Chief Executive.

However, the buzz isn’t quieting, and the race will start to get real after Sine Die, so decision time is nigh for the former newscaster in the Jacksonville market.

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Four federal employees were fired Tuesday over payments to reimburse New York City for hotel costs for migrants, Department of Homeland Security officials said.

The workers are accused of circumventing leadership to make the transactions, which have been standard for years through a program that helps with costs to care for a surge in migration. But officials did not give details on how the four had violated any policies.

On Monday, President Donald Trump’s aide Elon Musk posted on X that his team had discovered payments used to house migrants in “luxury hotels” with money intended for disaster relief. Musk blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is part of Homeland Security, and called the payments “gross insubordination.”

FEMA’s Acting Administrator, Cameron Hamilton, later said the payments were suspended and the employees who authorized them would be held accountable.

The terminated employees were FEMA’s Chief Financial Officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist, a Homeland Security statement said.

The employees made “egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” the statement said. “DHS will not sit idly and allow deep state activists to undermine the will and safety of the American people.”

The statement gave no other details, and officials didn’t reply to emails seeking further comment.

Information from New York City indicated that money it has received to care for migrants was appropriated by Congress and allocated to the city last year by FEMA. The city has never paid luxury rates for hotels, spokeswoman Liz Garcia said.

The money comes from Congress and is specifically for Customs and Border Protection, which also is part of Homeland Security. FEMA administers the payments.

The money is separate from the disaster relief fund, which is FEMA’s main funding stream to help people and governments affected by disasters.

The Shelter and Services Program has become a flashpoint for criticism by Republicans, who incorrectly claim it’s taking money from people hit by hurricanes or floods.

The firings come as Trump’s Republican administration ratchets up pressure on FEMA, suggesting it should be disbanded and money should be given directly to states to handle disasters.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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Straws might seem insignificant, inspiring jokes about the plastic vs. paper debate, but the plastic straw has come to symbolize a global pollution crisis over the past decade.

On Monday, President Donald Trump waded into the issue when he signed an executive order to reverse a federal push away from plastic straws, declaring that paper straws “don’t work” and don’t last very long. Trump said he thinks “it’s OK” to continue using plastic straws, although they’ve have been blamed for polluting oceans and harming marine life.

In 2015, video of a marine biologist pulling a plastic straw out of a turtle’s nose sparked outrage worldwide and countries and cities started banning them, starting with the Pacific Island nation Vanuatu and Seattle in 2018.

Here’s what to know about the larger fight over single-use plastics in the United States:

What happens to plastic straws?

More than 390 million plastic straws are used every day in the United States, most for 30 minutes or less, according to advocacy group Turtle Island Restoration Network.

Plastic straws are usually thrown away after one use, going on to litter beaches and waterways and potentially killing marine animals that mistake them for food.

The straws are not recyclable because they are so small. They take at least 200 years to decompose, the network said.

They break down into incredibly tiny bits of plastic smaller than a fraction of a grain of rice. These microplastics have been found in a wide range of body tissues. Though research is still limited overall, there are growing concerns that microplastics in the body could potentially be linked to heart disease, Alzheimer’s and dementia, and other problems.

The advocacy group Beyond Plastics said that while plastics are often cheaper than paper products, the cheapest option is to skip the straw.

Judith Enck, a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator who now heads up Beyond Plastics, said she hopes that people react to the executive order by committing to using fewer plastic straws and that local and state governments do, too.

“It’s easy to just kind of almost poke fun of this, ignore it,” she said Tuesday. “But this is a moment that we as individuals and state and local policymakers can make a statement that they disagree with this executive order and are committed to using less plastic straws. It’s not that hard to do.”

Several states and cities have banned plastic straws and some restaurants no longer automatically give them to customers.

What is being done globally?

President Joe Biden’s administration had committed to phasing out federal purchases of single-use plastics, including straws, from food service operations, events and packaging by 2027, and from all federal operations by 2035.

The move was a way for the federal government to formally acknowledge the severity of the plastic pollution crisis and the scale of the response required to effectively confront it.

Erin Simon, an expert on plastics and packaging at the World Wildlife Fund, said at the time that it sent a message around the world: If we can make change happen at scale, so can you.

The declaration came in July, just a few months before negotiators met in South Korea to try to finish crafting a treaty to address the global crisis of plastic pollution. Negotiators didn’t reach an agreement late last year, but talks resume this year.

Under the Biden administration, the United States at first adopted a position viewed as favoring industry, stating that countries should largely develop their own plans instead of abiding by global rules. China, the United States and Germany are the biggest players in the global plastics trade.

The United States changed its position heading into South Korea. The delegation said it would support having an article in the treaty that addresses supply, or plastic production. More than 100 countries want an ambitious treaty that limits plastic production while tackling cleanup and recycling.

U.S. manufacturers have asked Trump to remain at the negotiating table but revert to the old position that focused on redesigning plastic products, recycling and reuse.

Aren’t other plastics a problem?

The environment is littered with single-use plastic food and beverage containers — water bottles, takeout containers, coffee lids, straws and shopping bags.

Every year, the world produces more than 400 million tons of new plastic. About 40% of all plastics are used in packaging, according to the United Nations.

In 2023, Ocean Conservancy volunteers collected more than 61,000 plastic straws and stirrers polluting beaches and waterways in the United States. There were even more cigarette butts, plastic bottles, bottle caps and food wrappers, the nonprofit said.

Most plastic is made from fossil fuels. Negotiators at the United Nations climate talks known as COP28 agreed in 2023 the world must transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels and triple the use of renewable energy.

As pressure to reduce fossil fuels has increased globally, oil and gas companies have been looking more to the plastics side of their business as a market that could grow. Trump strongly supports and gets support from the oil and gas industry.

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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.

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