Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appoints former Chief of Staff James Uthmeier to the state's Attorney General post, and DOGE gets an invitation to turn its attention to the FAA.

DeSantis' chief of staff, James Uthmeier, sworn in as Florida's 39th Attorney General

Gov. Ron DeSantis' chief of staff, James Uthmeier, was sworn in Monday as Florida’s 39th Attorney General.

Uthmeier takes over the position from Ashely Moody, who the governor selected to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate.

Now the U.S. Secretary of State, Rubio was the first of President Donald Trump’s cabinet picks to be confirmed by the Senate.

Before serving as chief of staff to DeSantis, Uthmeier served in the Florida Office of General Counsel, where he oversaw litigation and legal work for the governor and state executive agencies.

After graduating from the University of Florida and Georgetown Law, Uthmeier began his career as a litigation associate at the Washington D.C. office of Jones Day, according to UF, before he went on to serve as a senior advisor and counsel to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross.

Uthmeier is also an adjunct professor at Florida State University College of Law.

“I promise to you and the people of Florida that I will endeavor every day to do what is right and to levy justice where it is due,” said Uthmeier.

Uthmeier is a longtime DeSantis administration ally. Speaking Monday, DeSantis said Uthmeier was instrumental in many legislative victories, as well as the defeat of Amendment 3 and Amendment 4.

“I have no doubt if he does even a fraction as attorney general of what he did in our administration, you guys are going to be very, very pleased,” said DeSantis.

Uthmeier is vowing to tackle a slew of issues, including immigration. He vowed Monday to back the “America First” agenda and target cartels and traffickers.

“We will not stand idly by as the left tries to infiltrate our institutions and use the court system to indoctrinate our kids,” he added.

Florida Democrats rebuked the pick. They’ve accused Uthmeier of misusing tax dollars and government resources to combat ballot amendments on abortion and recreation marijuana,

“He’s shown he is willing to do anything, including breaking the law, to keep his mob boss happy,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried.

Uthmeier will serve two years in the office. He’ll need to run and win to secure a four-year term.

Trump begins firings of FAA air traffic control staff just weeks after fatal DC plane crash

The Trump administration has begun firing several hundred Federal Aviation Administration employees, upending staff on a busy air travel weekend and just weeks after a January fatal midair collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Probationary workers were targeted in late-night emails Friday notifying them they had been fired, David Spero, president of the Professional Aviation Safety Specialists union, said in a statement.

In the Jan. 29 fatal crash between a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines passenger jet, which is still under investigation, one controller was handing both commercial airline and helicopter traffic at the busy airport.

Just days before the collision, President Donald Trump had already fired all the members of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee, a panel mandated by Congress after the 1988 PanAm 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. The committee is charged with examining safety issues at airlines and airports.

One FAA employee who was fired over the weekend suggested he was targeted for his views on Tesla and X, formerly Twitter, not as part of a general probationary-level sweep. Both are owned by Elon Musk, who is leading Trump's effort to cut the federal government.

On Sunday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X that Musk's SpaceX team is visiting the Air Traffic Control System Command Center in Virginia on Monday "to get a firsthand look at the current system, learn what air traffic controllers like and dislike about their current tools, and envision how we can make a new, better, modern and safer system."

He said the FAA is "open to any and all patriotic developers or companies who want to help our country in this game-changing mission."

Charles Spitzer-Stadtlander posted on LinkedIn that he was fired just after midnight Saturday, days after he started getting harassing messages on Facebook.

“The official DOGE Facebook page started harassing me on my personal Facebook account after I criticized Tesla and Twitter," Spitzer-Stadtlander wrote. “Less than a week later, I was fired, despite my position allegedly being exempted due to national security.”

He added: "When DOGE fired me, they turned off my computer and wiped all of my files without warning.”

Spitzer-Stadtlander said he was supposed to be exempted from the probationary firings because the FAA office he worked in focused on national security threats such as attacks on the national airspace by drones.

The Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The firings were first reported by CNN.

DACA Dreamer feels 'disheartened' by new Florida immigration bill taking away in-state tuition rates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed an immigration bill, which includes no longer allowing Florida undocumented students to qualify for in-state tuition.

Valencia College says it's currently reviewing the bill and will comply with the law.

Seminole State College says the legislation will be effective as of July 1, which means DACA students will not be eligible for in-state tuition and will have to pay out-of-state tuition rates.

One DACA dreamer said she feels disheartened by that decision.

Britney, who would only share her first name out of concern, moved to Orlando from Mexico when she was 4.

She’s majoring in marketing at the University of Central Florida after getting her associate’s degree at Valencia College.

“Everyone deserved the opportunity to be able to pay for in-state tuition,” she said.

DACA, which stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, gives immigrants who came to the U.S. as children temporary protection from deportation, as well as the ability to work.

Britney went to Tallahassee two years ago to share her story.

“It's kind of sad that this time around, we didn't have the same opportunity, because everything was so quick, so we couldn't really put a face to the issue,” she said. “And I feel like if we would have had time and shared our story, we could have this prevented.”

Jared Nordlund is the Florida State Director for UnidosUS, the country’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization.

He works to remove barriers from the Hispanic community and says this decision will affect the youth workforce.

“If we want to have a 21st century workforce, we need to invest in all of our kids, not let them go,” he said. “Dreamers are being put in the crosshairs on this, and instead of trying to invest in them, the party has gone the other way with them.”

Britney says that, despite the decision, it’s still important to share dreamers’ stories.

“We studied here our whole life, like this is our home and we want to be able to contribute back,” she said.

Britney is graduating from UCF on May 2.

In addition to Dreamers’ impact, the bill makes illegal immigration a state-level crime.

The recent legislation also mandates the death penalty for immigrants who commit capital offenses while in the country illegally.

According to the bill, Florida will pump millions into recruiting more police to help detain and deport undocumented immigrants.

The bill will also create the "State Board of Immigration Enforcement," which will help manage the $300 million set aside for immigration operations in Florida.