TALLAHASSEE — Florida Republicans notably catered to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ political agenda while he was on the political ascent. Now, as the governor approaches the end of his final term, many of those same lawmakers are trying to rein him in.

Lawmakers have cut back on the governor’s ability to transport migrants anywhere in the country. They are seeking to prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for political campaigns for or against constitutional amendments after the DeSantis administration spent millions last year fighting two ballot measures on abortion and marijuana. And Florida House committees have been scrutinizing the governor’s vetoes as well as the spending and hiring decisions of agency heads in his administration.

An influential House Republican on Wednesday went as far as to say that some agencies in the DeSantis administration are not operating as efficiently as they should. The remarks come as DeSantis repeatedly says Florida was “DOGE before DOGE was cool” in reference to the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency that is upending federal government spending.

“If the governor had really wanted to be DOGE, then the budget he submitted to us several months ago would have been DOGE,” Rep. Vicki Lopez, R-Miami, told reporters. “What we are finding is the Legislature is actually doing the DOGE efforts.”

Three weeks into the annual legislative session, these are some examples of how the Legislature, under solid Republican control, is looking to curtail the governor’s powers and more forcefully reassert its oversight authority over the executive branch.

The about-face from Republican lawmakers marks a shift in a political ecosystem that has long been dominated by DeSantis. As he geared up to run for president in 2024, lawmakers in his own party fast-tracked his agenda. But a newly defiant GOP-dominated Legislature means that for the first time, DeSantis will not only need to work to pass his preferred policies but also fend off those that could erode his authority in his final years.

In some of the most contentious exchanges, lawmakers have grilled executive agency heads about their use of taxpayer dollars and raised concerns about one state agency hiring out-of-state employees who then use tens of thousands of dollars for travel expenses, including commuting to work.

Lawmakers wrangle with state agency heads

At a Florida House committee hearing Wednesday, Department of Management Services Secretary Pedro Allende came under fire during a tense line of questioning.

It was the second time the agency came under scrutiny by the committee over several issues. Lawmakers have also questioned the agency’s decision to hire four out-of-state employees and then spend $56,598 on them commuting to Florida or other states dating back to 2023.

One of the employees, the state’s chief data officer, lives in Maryland and gets a monthly $3,500 travel allowance. Allende explained the agency allows him to work remotely but said the employee “vacations in Florida” and that his family has a house in Daytona Beach.

Another concern was that the out-of-state employees are part of a data team that has yet to complete a data project that is key for the state’s payroll and benefits. The project was required to be completed in 2022 by state law.

“If you have all these people working on it, what on earth have they been doing? And why hasn’t it been completed yet?” Lopez said.

The explosive exchange came a week after lawmakers in the same committee questioned why the secretary of the Florida Lottery had spent nearly $3,000 to attend a conference in Paris. The committee also noted that a recent state audit found the department’s inventory was missing 2,279 state vehicles purchased for a collective $57 million.

“You’re hiring these IT experts from out of state or wherever they come from, and yet somehow we still don’t know how many cars the state of Florida has,” Rep. Bill Partington, R-Ormond Beach, told Berger.

Lawmakers take aim at other items

With the legislative session in full swing, lawmakers have the opportunity to set the budgets for all functions of the state’s government as well as set new statutory rules for state officials to follow.

This year, that includes bills that would target where state agency heads live and how fast they need to implement what lawmakers approve, set new requirements for the governor’s office to post information about the contracts it signs during states of emergency and create a new government position whose job would include investigating “fraud, waste and abuse” within the executive branch.

State Rep. Debbie Mayfield, R-Melbourne, wants to require that heads of agencies and departments live in Leon County, where those entities are based. Mayfield says the bill was “not intended to embarrass anyone,” and she did not say which state officials live outside of the state’s capital county.

But state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo made headlines when he purchased a $1.6 million home in Pinellas County in 2023. Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue also moved his official headquarters to Orlando, where he and his family were living prior to getting the job.

A Transportation Department spokesperson told the Times/Herald in 2023 the decision was made in part “to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” and because he spent only 36% of his time working in Tallahassee. The rest of the time was spent traveling around the state and attending industry events.

State law says relocating official headquarters is supposed to be “in the best interests of the agency and not for convenience of the person.” The Department has not turned over emails relating to the relocation decision, nearly a year and a half after they were requested by the Times/Herald.

Lawmakers are also targeting what is happening behind the scenes.

The Florida Senate on Wednesday unanimously voted to increase the transparency and speed that state agencies need to carry out legislation.

Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, has said the bill is needed because lawmakers have worked on a number of initiatives during their time in the Legislature, and sometimes the executive branch seems to implement the new laws in a manner that's “painfully slow.”

“This may be like watching paint dry,” Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, said Wednesday. “But at the end of the day, it is one of the boldest moves, and important moves, that the Florida Legislature will propose to state government.”

Democrats in both the House and Senate have welcomed the changes to the executive branch — whether big or small. They began noting the shift after House Speaker Daniel Perez and Albritton sparred with DeSantis over an immigration package earlier this year.

“That rift is not necessarily a bad thing,” House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell told reporters last month. “We need the Legislature to be the Legislature and the executive branch to be the executive branch.”

Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, agrees.

“I’m encouraged by the trend because it means that the Legislature is asserting its independence,” he said. “It is long overdue.”

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