Last Call for 2.25.25 – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida

Last Call – A prime-time read of what’s going down in Florida politics.

First Shot

Gov. Ron DeSantis is shuffling agency heads following former Chief of Staff James Uthmeier’s ascension to Attorney General.

Soon after Uthmeier’s appointment to succeed U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, DeSantis plucked Jason Weida to fill the vacant Chief of Staff slot, which in turn created an opening at the top of the Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees the state’s Medicaid program and tens of thousands of health care facilities.

The ripple effect continued Tuesday when the Governor announced Department of Children and Families Secretary Shevaun Harris would be tagging in for Weida. Harris’ new role isn’t so new — before she took the lead role at DCF in early 2021, Harris spent 15 years working at AHCA, culminating with a stint as Acting Secretary.

Harris’ slot at DCF, meanwhile, will be filled by Taylor Hatch, the Secretary of Florida’s Agency for Persons with Disabilities. Hatch previously worked as a Deputy Secretary at DCF.

Hatch’s background included working as the Director of Legislative Affairs for the Department of Management Services, the state’s real estate manager, and director of workforce services at the Department of Economic Opportunity.

DeSantis did announce who would succeed Hatch at DCF, so there may be another domino or two left in the chain.

Evening Reads

—“The 34 most unhinged lines from Donald Trump’s CPAC speech” via Chris Cillizza of So What

—”The election just ended and we already have a new Michael Wolff book” via Nicolas Niarchos of The New York Times 

—”Some GOP lawmakers start to call out DOGE — carefully” via Hannah Knowles, Marianna Sotomayor and Mariana Alfaro

—”Nearly 40% of contracts canceled by Elon Musk’s DOGE are expected to produce no savings” via Ryan J. Foley of The Associated Press

—“Russia’s withering economy is tricky place to do deals — even for Donald Trump” via Georgi Kantchev and Joe Wallace of The Wall Street Journal

—”Why the Trump administration is publicly supporting an alleged human trafficker” via Aja Romano of Vox

—“‘Forced labor’: Marco Rubio expands sanctions on Cuba’s doctor program” via Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics

—”Message to Byron Donalds? Casey DeSantis warns ‘Republican-lite squishes’ could set back Florida” via A.G. Gancarski of Florida Politics

—”With no Medicaid expansion on horizon Florida lawmakers take on scope battles (again)” via Christine Sexton of the Florida Phoenix

—”Goodbye to baseball’s most anachronistic rule” via Steve Rushin of The Atlantic

Quote of the Day

“With the left and the special interests wanting to impose their will … or squishes wanting to go Republican light by continuing to spend on massive boondoggles and not implementing the will of the people, Florida could very easily revert back to a purple state.”

— First Lady Casey DeSantis, possibly swiping at U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds.

Put it on the Tab

Look to your left, then look to your right. If you see one of these people at your happy hour haunt, flag down the bartender and put one of these on your tab. Recipes included, just in case the Cocktail Codex fell into the well.

Order a round of Purple Rains — the tastiest purple and white cocktail we know of — for the advancement team at Florida Poly, which was just named a Fulbright Top Producing Institution.

Florida Gaming Control Commission served Bad Bets to a stack of illegal gambling businesses from the Space Coast to the west coast.

Prep a Welcome Home for Shevaun Harris, who is returning to AHCA, where she worked for 15 years, including as Acting Secretary, before leading DCF.

Breakthrough Insights

Tune In

Gators travel to Georgia

The Florida Gators travel to Athens to face the Georgia Bulldogs tonight (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network) as Florida continues its march toward a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Gators (24-3, 11-3 SEC) dropped a spot in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll, sliding back from #2 to #3 despite beating LSU on the road 79-65 for the program’s sixth straight win. Florida may have something to prove. 

They will also have one of their top players returning. Alex Condon missed the last three games with an ankle injury. He is expected to play against Georgia. Condon averages 10.6 points per game and leads the Gators with 7.8 rebounds per game and 1.4 blocks per contest.

Tonight’s game is the second meeting between the rivals this year. On Jan. 25, Florida hammered Georgia 89-59 in Gainesville. Walter Clayton Jr. led Florida with 17 points in the game.

After tonight’s game, Florida faces three more SEC teams before the postseason: 12th-ranked Texas A&M, #6 Alabama, and Ole Miss. The March 1 Texas A&M game will be featured as ESPN’s College GameDay will broadcast from Gainesville all day.

ESPN’s most recent projection lists Florida as the #1 seed in the West Region. The Gators last earned a top seed in 2014. They made the Final Four that season.

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Last Call is published by Peter Schorsch, assembled and edited by Phil Ammann and Drew Wilson, with contributions from the staff of Florida Politics.

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