Gov. Ron DeSantis ripped what he sees as legislative rebellion against his raft of Special Session proposals, calling changes by leaders in the House and Senate insufficient and an insult to its presidential namesake.

“The Legislature’s bill is a bait-and-switch tactic trying to create the illusion of an illegal immigration crack down, when it does anything but. It is an insult to name such a weak bill after President Donald Trump, who has been so strong on this issue,” said DeSantis on X Monday.

The Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act — the TRUMP Act — is a single bill that substitutes for much of what DeSantis wanted, but he lamented a lot of his wish list isn’t in the package.

“Overall, their new bill is substantially weaker than the proposals I outlined and that are necessary to ensure that Florida leads on fulfilling the Trump Administration’s mandate to enforce immigration law and deport illegal aliens,” DeSantis decried.

“It fails to put an enforceable duty on state & local law enforcement to fully cooperate on illegal immigration enforcement. This means that Florida localities will provide no meaningful assistance to federal efforts,” he added, before casting shade at who can best be described as the Governor’s frenemy, Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, suggesting he wouldn’t enforce immigration law.

“It unconstitutionally removes authority to enforce the law from the Governor to a lower-level cabinet agency, the Department of Agriculture, that does not oversee state law enforcement and whose stakeholders often oppose enforcement measures. By giving enforcement power to the agricultural arm of state government, it ensures that enforcement never actually occurs. In short, it puts the fox in charge of the henhouse.”

Senate President Ben Albritton took issue Monday with much of what DeSantis proposed for the Special Session as not in accordance with what the federal government under Trump wants.

“I don’t support creating criminal penalties against frontline law enforcement officers. I don’t support different standards for protecting law enforcement from the threat of prosecution. We shouldn’t protect some employees and contractors acting on behalf of the state while hanging local law enforcement out to dry,” Albritton said.

The Governor had blasted Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez for saying the Special Session call was “premature,” and he again attacked their alleged stalling Monday.

“Though the Florida Legislature’s leadership initially said the call for a Special Session on immigration enforcement was ‘premature,’ they have now finally agreed to come in and do their job,” DeSantis said.

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U.S. Rep. Carlos Giménez of Miami has joined the Smithsonian Institute’s Board of Regents, and he’s made clear what his priority for the nonprofit museum collective will be during his tenure there.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson appointed Giménez, fellow Republican House member Adrian Smith of Nebraska and Democratic U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui of California to the 17-seat board responsible for the Smithsonian’s administration.

Other members include Vice President JD Vance, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, U.S. Sens. John Boozman, Catherine Cortez Masto and Gary Peters, and nine citizens.

Of them, Giménez is the only one — and the only member of Congress — who was born in Cuba. He intends to ensure his experiences and those of millions of others who fled or descended from people who fled from Cuba’s oppressive regime are properly educated on the atrocities.

“I look forward to working with my fellow board members to guarantee that the Hispanic, Cuban American, and Cuban exile experiences are accurately portrayed and represented in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection,” he said in a statement Monday.

“The Smithsonian Institute is a crown jewel of our nation and should be a bastion of patriotism and American pride for millions of people across our country and the world to enjoy.”

The Smithsonian is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex, according to its website. It spans 21 museums and a National Zoo.

Giménez, the immediate past Mayor of Miami-Dade County, represents Florida’s 28th Congressional District, which spans a southern portion of Miami-Dade County and all of the Keys in Monroe County.

Since taking his seat in Congress in January 2021, Giménez has been one of the chamber’s most prominent voices on Cuba and American policy regarding the island nation.

He and other Cuban American lawmakers bashed ex-President Joe Biden for not acting swiftly in response to mass protests there in mid-2021 and said later that year that Democrats are soft on Cuba because they are fond of communist ideology, a claim Democrats reject.

Last year, Giménez led a call for action and censure after reports arose that Cuban officials were given a tour of secure areas at Miami International Airport. After Biden removed Cuba from a U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism this month, Giménez was among the first to condemn the move, which President Donald Trump swiftly reversed.

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Florida’s monthly unemployment rate finished 2024 on a high note. The  December jobless rate held steady at 3.4%

FloridaCommerce found there was no change from the November unemployment rate. While the percentage of the unemployed remained the same, the number of jobs added over the previous month was notable.

December saw 17,900 private-sector jobs added compared to November. The number pf private jobs compared to year ago has increased by 122,800. It was an increase that outpaced the national private sector job growth of 1.3% in the same time span.

“Under Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decisive leadership, Florida continues to make gains for job seekers and job creators, maintaining economic stability for the workforce and creating confidence in capital for job creators,” Florida Secretary of Commerce J. Alex Kelly said. “The Governor’s commitment to E-Verify, for example, has overlapped with a surge in tourism-related employment, proving that we can both protect our workforce and businesses from bad actors, and simultaneously see our job numbers grow.”

Miami, for several months in a row, has held on to the lowest unemployment rate in the state. The South Florida hub scored a jobless figure of 2.5% in December. While that’s the lowest metro jobless figure in the state, it was a slight uptick from November’s rate of 2.4% and a jump from December 2023, which saw a staggering low of 1.6%.

Fort Lauderdale’s metro area was near the Miami unemployment rate, at 2.9% in December, up only 0.1% from November figure and from December 2023.

Pensacola and Tampa metro areas tied for the highest unemployment rates in the state, both coming in at 3.2% in December.

Other areas of note include Jacksonville, West Palm Beach and Orlando. All of those metropolitan areas recorded monthly unemployment figures of 3% in December.

Florida’s December unemployment rate continues the state’s streak of remaining lower than the national average. It’s been 50 months straight that Sunshine State unemployment has been below the national level, which is now 4.1%.

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