Before any guests showed up at the Rescuing the American Dream summit, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott stood in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Washington, D.C. He spoke to staff as technicians conducted soundchecks and early presenters connected PowerPoint presentations for the event.

While invitations all billed Scott, a Naples Republican, as a “Special Guest” at the summit, it was clear from before the opening reception the night before that he served a greater role than that. Florida’s senior Senator served as the conservative gathering’s driving force, its ideological center.

The beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term also marked the first time since Scott, a former Florida Governor, took federal office that Republicans control the White House and both chambers of Congress. This wasn’t new information to the Senator when Florida Politics asked about the opportunity for conservative leaders.

“Don’t squander it, right?” Scott said.

Organizers for the two-day event in Washington hope to see the summit become a regular gathering, and announced intentions for a second event later this year in Florida. The goal of the first summit was to discuss how conservatives can best implement Trump’s agenda over the next 100 days. But the summit itself also served to put Scott at the center of the conversation on what conservatism means during Trump’s second term.

To Scott, the goals of the movement should be straightforward. “Get the fiscal house in order,” he said. “It’s the biggest thing.”

“If you look at what I did in Florida, you know, Florida had not lived within its means. We’ve got to get this budget balanced. We’ve got to dramatically, not a little bit, got to dramatically reduce regulation. We’ve got to get it easier to get a permit. To me, that’s the biggest thing we have to do.”

As much as anything, the summit also put Scott at the center of the conversation about the Senate’s direction. He moderated panels on energy with U.S. Sens. Mike Lee of Utah and Dan Sullivan of Alaska and on budget reconciliation with U.S. Sens. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin and Roger Marshall of Kansas, and split moderating duties with U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty on a panel about digital currency.

Scott held a “fireside chat” with Shark Tank investor Kevin O’Leary.

He also introduced Senate Majority Leader John Thune for a short update to summit attendees on budget talks, an appearance the South Dakota Republican made months after winning a contest against Scott on who should lead the caucus this Congress. Thune praised Scott’s work as Governor and in the Senate as he addressed summit attendees.

“I remind him that when he was running for Governor in 2010, we campaigned together down in Florida, and he said I was the only Senator that campaigned for him in Florida for governor in 2010,” Thune said.

“But he’s been a great addition to the United States Senate, and the perspective he brings, having been successful in business and seeing things with that set of eyes is enormously important.”

At an opening reception for the event, Scott attracted such national figures as Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida’s Attorney General during his entire tenure as Governor, to discuss Justice Department successes since her confirmation.

Former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, now a candidate for Ohio Governor, and U.S. Rep. John James, a Michigan Republican rumored to be considering a Senate run, also attended and gave remarks. So did U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, Florida’s junior Senator.

At that reception, Lee said that Scott had put himself at the “epicenter” of the fight for conservative policy in Washington.

“When you need to know what’s happening in Washington, you look in the direction of Rick, and there’s a lot that’s going on there,” the Utah Republican said.

He noted that Scott had invited tech billionaire Elon Musk, the titular head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, to a lunch for Senate Republicans earlier in the day and advanced the topic of government reform.

The most viral moment of the summit came the following day. During discussions of budget reconciliation, Scott suggested lawmakers cannot treat any programs as sacred from budget review. Too many lawmakers, Scott said, say “You can’t cut, you can’t cut, you can’t cut.”

“That’s all great but then you’re not worrying about any program you care about,” Scott said, “because Medicare is going bankrupt, Social Security is going bankrupt, you know inflation can’t go away, interest rates can’t come down. So, my belief is, we’re going to have to do this. Are we going to do it this year? Are we going to do it next year?”

Critics pounced on the remark as a reversal of promises not to cut Social Security. “Rick Scott is the biggest conman and criminal in the U.S. Senate,” posted Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the Democrat who challenged Scott last year, on X. “I warned everyone, he lied straight to the faces of seniors, and now here we are. His push to cut Social Security is a betrayal of the people who rely on it most. Corruption in Washington must be defeated, and we must hold our leaders accountable.”

But Scott referenced in the same panel that he had won re-election, and voters on the trail were not regularly approaching him about protecting government programs. Rather, he heard a desire to cut taxes and reduce regulations.

Throughout the summit, he regularly touted the work of DOGE and Musk, saying someone needed to go through every line of the budget the same way every business owner or family does with their own finances.

Asked about whether that could threaten certain programs vital to Florida, Scott said he’s not worried. Florida Politics asked specifically about the firing of forecasters at the National Weather Service.

“My understanding is they are simply streamlining the process,” he said. “It’s what you do in business. The exact same thing.”

Scott in recent years also pushed for a replenishment of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Disaster Relief Fund, but he said that agency also needs financial review.

“I think the FEMA money ought to be very accountable. I think that we can’t be wasting either federal, state or local money. We ought to know exactly what the rules are. There shouldn’t be any surprises. So, I’m optimistic.”

He suggested state governments need to be following in the path of DOGE as well.

“Everybody’s got to do the same thing,” he said. “We’ve got to listen to our voters. We’ve got to reduce the regulatory environment, the permitting environment, reduce the cost of government, so everybody’s got to do the same thing.

“That’s what the voter wants.”

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The Process can’t seem to get enough of musical chairs in recent months, and we got another edition this week.

This time, it was former state Rep. Bob Rommel deciding to take a gig with the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) as the Florida State Chapter’s Executive Director.

That’s notable as it takes Rommel out of the running for the Senate District 28 contest to replace former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo.

Rommel has raised big stacks of cash in anticipation of a run. But his path was complicated when Passidomo endorsed state Rep. Lauren Melo as her preferred successor.

Still, Rommel had enough cash to mount a serious run and at least force Melo to spend significantly to secure the GOP nomination next year.

Instead, Rommel decided against the move — and against running for Congress to replace U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds as he mounts a run for Governor — and took a gig working with Donalds’ wife, Erika, at AFPI.

That gives Rommel a cushy job and clears the path for Passidomo’s preferred successor. The difference between this and a normal game of musical chairs? It seems that all the major players here are winners.

Now, it’s onto our weekly game of winners and losers.

Winners

Honorable mention: BayCare St. Anthony’s. A point of personal privilege to start our winner’s list. We want to give credit to BayCare St. Anthony’s for taking extra good care of our publisher, Peter Schorsch.

Peter went in for a hip replacement surgery this week that was a full success. And that’s thanks to the wonderful team at St. Anthony’s that was able to keep Peter in one piece.

“I cannot express how grateful I am for my wife and her unending love, concern, and patience. (Of course she got us custom T-shirts for the surgery because what would a day in the family’s life be without the right gear?),” he shared following the surgery.

“Nor can I properly express the appropriate level of gratitude I have for the doctors, nurses, PTs, and the rest of the @BayCare St. Anthony’s team for their incredible level of professionalism. Even the security guard and valets are pros! Always grateful to God, who watches over us, and to the Beloved Virgin Mary, who has protected and nurtured me so many times in my life.”

Also a shout-out also to BayCare lobbyist Jason Rodriguez for providing service outside his normal line of work and checking in on Peter during his stay.

We are a small team here at Florida Politics, and needless to say we can’t do what we do without Peter. We were all awaiting the good news as Peter’s procedure was underway, and it was a huge relief to know that everything went smoothly thanks to the St. Anthony’s A-team.

Now, the recovery begins.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest winner: JD Vance. We don’t make it a habit of spotlighting politicians without a strong connection to Florida. But Vance gets a surprise spot on this list thanks to a pull putting him 14 points ahead of Gov. Ron DeSantis in a 2028 Presidential Primary poll … of just Florida voters.

DeSantis getting creamed in his home state is not a strong sign for his future presidential prospects.

Now of course, it’s way too early to take away anything set in stone from these polls. And the survey came from the Donald Trump-aligned Fabrizio Lee & Associates, which certainly has an interest in propping up Trump’s Vice President — and possibly shivving on-and-off political rival DeSantis.

But other surveys of the contest nationwide have also put Vance well ahead of DeSantis.

So when this latest poll put Vance ahead of DeSantis 47% to 33% in Florida, it definitely caught our attention.

And if DeSantis goes from losing big to Trump in 2024 to seeing his wife lose the Governor’s race in 2026 (again, way too early to know what will happen there), then we have to think polls like this will make DeSantis think twice to opening himself up to a third straight electoral embarrassment. And that would make it all the more likely Vance is the GOP’s heir apparent.

The biggest winner: James Uthmeier. Uthmeier makes his first appearance atop this list from his strong stance against reprobate brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate.

We made our feelings known on these two tools last week. This week, Uthmeier confirmed the existence of a state investigation into the brothers’ conduct to see if they potentially broke any laws in Florida.

“Many of these victims are coming forward, some of them minors. People can spin or defend however they want, but in Florida, this type of behavior is viewed as atrocious. We’re not going to accept it,” Uthmeier said.

“They chose to come here and set their feet down in this state, and we’re going to pursue every tool we have within our legal authority to hold them accountable.”

Now, the Tates and others tried to twist this thing into some sort of political attack on the DeSantis administration and tried to wedge it in as another piece of the proxy war between DeSantis and Trump, the latter of whom Andrew Tate vehemently supports.

Except, that narrative got blown to smithereens when Donalds, who is Trump’s choice in the 2026 race for Governor, backed Uthmeier’s move.

“I think those allegations have to be fully investigated, and that we go from there,” Donalds said.

“The key thing is, we don’t tolerate the trafficking of women or, frankly, the abuse of women. We do not tolerate that. So if the Attorney General finds cause under Florida law to investigate that, then I wish him the best, and I support whatever he’s going to do on that matter.”

So yeah, it seems like no one wants these guys in our state. And look, if the Tates really committed no crimes, as they claim, then no formal charges will be filed. But given their history, it’s prudent for Uthmeier to make sure they are clean. Credit to Uthmeier for leading the charge here and setting a precedent for his tenure as Attorney General.

Losers

Dishonorable mention: Ileana Garcia. Garcia got plenty of attention late last year when she filed a bill banning weather modification, feeding into concerns from conspiracy theorists about “chemtrails.”

After moderating her language about the bill a bit, Garcia got support last month from her first Senate panel — and from one of Trump’s ex-wives, Marla Maples.

But as of this week, the future of Garcia’s bill is very much in the air.

That’s because the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government decided to temporarily postpone the measure.

It’s as yet unclear where this is a true “temporary” postponement or a more permanent one. But it may be a sign Garcia’s legislation isn’t going to fly this Session.

Almost (but not quite) the biggest loser: DeSantis, Joseph Ladapo. Speaking of scientifically questionable choices by government officials, the Governor and his loyal Surgeon General went full anti-vaxxer this week at a presser pushing to make mandatory the state’s ban against mRNA vaccine mandates.

Ladapo mocked pushes to have people take the measles vaccine amid a Texas measles outbreak that is the worst in decades.

“These are the same people that tell you that boys can be girls, that men can be women, that an experimental vaccine the children do not need is actually something that’s critical to their health, that you need one or two or three masks depending on what time point in the pandemic you look, right?” Ladapo said of medical professionals recommending the vaccine.

DeSantis added his 2 cents about the annual flu vaccine, which he said “doesn’t exactly have a stellar record with efficacy.”

Now if DeSantis stopped there, he’s not technically wrong in a vacuum. Because these vaccines must be made in advance of knowing exactly what strain of the flu will hit in a given season, yeah, some years the vaccine is more effective than others. That’s true.

But DeSantis wasn’t speaking in a vacuum here given the topic of the press conference and Ladapo’s remarks. And even more importantly, he didn’t stop there.

“And the question is, okay, well, why is this stuff being pushed on the society? Well, because people make money off of it. I mean, that’s why it’s being pushed. I think we all know that,” DeSantis continued.

That twists this from something that could possibly be read as a factual description of the vaccines’ effectiveness into another way to spin a web of conspiracy theories to further undermine public confidence in medical experts.

It’s not out of character for DeSantis, unfortunately. Arguably his biggest move to undercut public faith in health experts was appointing Ladapo as Surgeon General in the first place.

The biggest loser: Insurance companies. This is now back-to-back weeks of insurance companies landing in this spot, as the writing continues to be on the wall that state officials may finally be using their power to crack down on these entities.

Last week, it was due to reports that insurance companies declared losses by shifting money into affiliate companies all while crying poverty as they jacked up rates and begged for government assistance.

This week, House Speaker Daniel Perez announced a committee would conduct a probe into those reports, including “issuing subpoenas, putting witnesses under oath and hiring outside experts.”

If there is an effective criticism of the Republican Party, it’s that there has too often been an instinct to look the other way regarding corporate power at the expense of the little guy.

But here, the pain Floridians are suffering as home insurance rates skyrocketed in recent years is too serious to ignore. Credit to Perez for showing signals that something significant may happen to help consumers desperate for a life raft.

The proof will be in whatever passes this Session. But so far, this is a good start.

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