Congress

Florida’s budget stalemate takes on Cherfilius-McCormick probe-related twist

Published

7 months ago

April 2, 2026

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The state’s Republican-controlled Legislature is considering whether to steer taxpayer money to a nonprofit organization — with a politically connected leader — whose name surfaced in the House probe against Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.

The South Florida Democrat last week was found guilty of numerous ethics violations by a bipartisan subcommittee of the House Ethics panel, a move that could lead to her potential expulsion. She has denied all wrongdoing.

The main allegations centered on whether Cherfilus-McCormick improperly funneled millions to her congressional campaign. But a January report from the Office of Congressional Conduct showed that the review also looked at federal funding that went to a foundation led by Freddie Figgers, a telecommunications executive from Broward County with ties to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The office was reviewing in part whether Cherfilus-McCormick requested money for a community project that went to a for-profit entity in a possible violation of House rules; the final list of violations adopted by the subcommittee did not cite this.

A January report from that office highlighted $2.2 million that went in 2022 to the Figgers Foundation to purchase tablets that would be provided to senior citizens and children with disabilities in Cherfilus-McCormick’s district.

During the recently concluded regular legislative session in Tallahassee, Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate requested money for the Figgers Foundation for a tablet program. The Senate budget included $350,000 for the program, while the House budget had a $1 million appropriation. Two years ago, the tablet program got a $500,000 appropriation from the Legislature.

The report from the Office of Congressional Conduct looked at whether the tablets and the software were products of for-profit companies run by Figgers and whether the program was designed to create future customers for his telecommunications network. The January report also questioned campaign donations to Cherfilus-McCormick from Figgers and his family members, as well money her congressional office spent on constituent messaging services with Figgers Enterprises. The report states that a witness told investigators that shortly after Cherfilus-McCormick assumed office in 2022, she asked a staffer to reach out to Figgers about funding for community projects and that she wanted him to submit a request.

Cherfilus-McCormick’s office did not respond to questions about the tablet program. When asked for comments, the Figgers Foundation responded with a statement from Lee Bentley, a Tampa attorney who serves as legal counsel for the organization.

He said that “Mr. Figgers did not profit from Congressional funding, and he certainly did not make political donations to secure federal monies.” Blue Light News previously reported that individuals or political action committees with Figgers Communications donated $19,800 to Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign during the 2024 cycle, according to OpenSecrets.

Bentley said “the House Ethics Committee report is replete with factual errors; furthermore, language in the report stating that Mr. and Mrs. Figgers were uncooperative is categorically false. Mr. and Mrs. Figgers agreed to be interviewed, answered all questions posed to them, and produced all subpoenaed documents within their possession.”

Bentley also said that “the charitable program at issue was woefully underfunded, and Mr. Figgers made a significant personal donation to complete its work. The program ultimately served 5,000 families in need of tablets to meet their healthcare needs.”

The chief of staff and chief counsel for the House Ethics Committee had no comment on Bentley’s statement.

Figgers, whose mother abandoned him when he was a baby and who grew up in the north Florida town of Quincy, has long-running ties to DeSantis and accompanied him on an economic development trip to Japan shortly before the governor mounted his unsuccessful run for president. DeSantis appointed him in 2023 to the state Commission on Ethics, but Figgers was forced to step down from that position after the Florida Senate refused to confirm him.

DeSantis’ office did not respond to a request for comment.

Senate Republicans at the time did not discuss why they declined to confirm Figgers. But a background document on Figgers requested by a state Senate committee, obtained by Blue Light News through a public records request, included information from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement about several arrests — although Figgers was never convicted. There was also information from FDLE that was redacted when the report was made available.

When asked about the arrests, Meredith Ivey, a spokesperson for Figgers, said that “the real story here is that Freddie Figgers is a hero who was protecting his elderly 81-year-old father, who was suffering from Alzheimer’s at the time, from physical abuse at the hands of another family member struggling with substance abuse. The charges in these cases were dismissed and it’s unfortunate that anyone would assume harmful motives when, in fact, Freddie put himself in harm’s way to protect his beloved late father.”

The Senate has twice confirmed Natlie Figgers, who is married to Freddie Figgers, to the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees.

The January report from the Office of Congressional Conduct said that both Freddie and Natlie Figgers “refused to cooperate” with the initial review and because of that the office could not determine whether the tablet program benefited his for-profit companies.

The final statement of violations against Cherfilus-McCormick touches briefly on whether she provided special favors in connection to community funding projects but does not go into detail. Figgers is not named directly in that document, but instead an “individual” matching his description is quoted as testifying to an investigative subcommittee. That person told the committee he did not remember anyone from the congressional office reaching out to him. He also told the committee he was “not too confident” the funding would go through and he never received any “promises” from Cherfilus-McCormick that the foundation request would be accepted.

It’s not clear if the program run by the Figgers Foundation will ultimately receive money this year from legislators since there is currently a budget stalemate between the Florida House and Senate. Lawmakers ended their regular session without passing a new budget but need to pass a new state budget by the end of June.

State Rep. Jennifer Kincart Jonsson, a Lakeland Republican who requested money for the program, said in an email, “I was not aware the Figgers Foundation or Mr. Figgers were a part of any congressional inquiry.”

State Sen. Tom Leek, an Ormond Republican who put in a funding request for the tablet program in his chamber, said in a text message that “as you know, final funding decisions have not been made.” But Leek also said he was “completely unaware” of the questions about federal funding to Figgers Foundation. He added: “Nor am I aware of any instance outside of this one where the legitimacy of the Figgers foundation or any other Figgers entity has been in question.”

The House Ethics panel is expected to consider what penalties to impose on Cherfilus-McCormick when the chamber returns from recess, which could include her possible removal from office. Cherfilus-McCormick was also indicted last year on charges that she allegedly stole federal disaster relief funds and used some of the proceeds on her congressional campaign. She has pleaded not guilty.

Congress

Democrats want Mullin in the hotseat in the next Congress

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

A top priority for Democrats if they get more power in Congress in November: Forcing the Trump administration’s controversial and unpopular immigration crackdown back in the headlines.

And one of the people they plan to go after hard is Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin — the former lawmaker who was brought into the role in part because he was seen as someone who could play well with Congress, unlike former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem.

A House Democratic aide said that committees plan to look at how DHS under Mullin has failed to deploy body cameras to many immigration agents, allowed dismal conditions at immigration facilities and failed to cooperate with the department’s Inspector General.

“He owns that,” the aide emphasized. They were granted anonymity to speak freely about evolving legislative preparations ahead of November.

Other Democrats plan to take him to task over the Oct. 12 ICE raid on the D.C. residence of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.).

Even if Democrats are only able to issue subpoenas and produce reports, that could be enough to force DHS back into the headlines — undermining a major goal of Mullin’s: Keeping unpopular immigration enforcement operations away from public attention.

That would likely worsen the political pains the White House is experiencing on immigration. Voters in both parties have soured on the president’s ambitious immigration crackdown after a series of controversies, including the deaths of several American citizens following encounters with immigration officers.

“We will investigate the administration weaponizing DHS against Americans, its out-of-control immigration policies, and its blatantly corrupt self-dealing. The American people expect nothing less, and we will deliver,” said Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who is poised to chair the House Homeland Security Committee in the next Congress.

While Democrats want to investigate the full breadth of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including changes to immigration courts and efforts to throttle legal immigration to the United States, multiple aides and lawmakers told Blue Light News that much of the action on Capitol Hill will center around deportations that appear to have happened without due process, aggressive practices in arrests and conditions at detentions facilities.

Democrats also plan to review how DHS has spent a historic influx of funds from a series of reconciliation bills — including controversial purchases of jets for use by Noem, warehouses intended to operate as detention facilities and other department acquisitions that may have benefitted administration allies.

As part of this push, they plan to also pull in a raft of lower-level and former officials for testimony.

At a Monday press conference in Long Beach, California, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, stressed that investigations into “abuses of ICE and DHS” will rank high among committee priorities — alongside investigations into the Trump family’s business dealings, disgraced deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and “corporate corruption.”

“What has been happening is horrific,” Garcia said. “But folks like Stephen MIller, Donald Trump and the horrific people they have in power to do this harm think they can get away with frankly these crimes and this inhumanity … you will be held accountable, you will be held investigated.”

“There is no moving forward without justice,” he added.

Other potential House committee chairs are also homing in on immigration enforcement as a top area for immediate congressional oversight after the midterms. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, as well as the House and Senate Judiciary committees also have jurisdiction over immigration operations. Aides say the incoming chairs of all of these committees are planning on working together to conduct oversight of DHS.

“This is a team sport,” said the House Democratic aide. “One of the Democratic campaign’s overwhelming themes has been accountability, and committees have an appetite to do more oversight work. So this is going to be a multicommittee effort.”

That said, the number of committees that are planning immigration investigations could result in a morass of similar probes if House Democratic leadership fails to manage committee chairs with differing priorities and personal styles. Republicans already experienced this during the Biden administration, when the chairs of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees did not clearly coordinate in their oversight of immigration policy and often held similar hearings with limited results.

Much of Democrats’ final approach will depend on the outcome of the midterm elections. While it is expected that Democrats will retake control of the House, if they also take back the Senate they could exert even more pressure on the administration by throttling the confirmation of nominees and leverage more resources for investigations.

But even just Democratic control of the House, which is seen in Washington as an all but certain outcome, would give Democratic committee chairs the ability to issue subpoenas for administration officials to testify before their committees and produce documents of import for committee investigations. The House could also always move to impeach the president and other top officials, though Democrats across the party’s ideological divides have for now ruled out a third impeachment of Trump, since it would likely fail to secure enough Republican Senate votes to result in his removal from office.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that “political attacks will not deter DHS from carrying out its lawful mission.”

“Congressional oversight should not be used as a vehicle to obstruct the department’s ability to secure the border, remove dangerous criminal aliens, disrupt transnational criminal organizations, and defend the homeland,” DHS added.

House Democrats also plan to focus on Noem’s tenure. Garcia confirmed in an interview on MS Now last week that his committee will be scrutinizing her tenure, even though she and former DHS adviser Corey Lewandowski have both left the department.

But many Democratic lawmakers are incensed about actions taken under Mullin’s tenure, including the raid on Omar’s residence.

“We are going to drag Markwayne Mullin into the Judiciary committee and give him the full Jack Smith treatment as a result of these raids,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Calif.), a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said in an interview earlier this month on MSNow, referring to the former special counsel who led federal prosecutions against Trump.

Her comments indicate that some Democratic lawmakers want to make a spectacle out of Mullin. Republicans regularly dragged Smith to testify before congressional committees as they sought to tar investigations into the president’s alleged criminal conduct.

Democrats are also eager to use their subpoena and investigative powers to compel testimony from White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, who wields considerable influence over the administration’s immigration policy, and border czar Tom Homan, who is accused of taking a cash bribe from a major government contractor.

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement that “Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of Americans — their only agenda is to continue to demonize ICE law enforcement and continue their decade long witch hunt against President Trump and his administration.”

Homan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Oversight work is a hallmark of divided government, especially since the party in control of Congress is often unlikely to secure presidential support for major pieces of messaging legislation. But parties have at times squandered those opportunities.

Committees are trying to put resources in place ahead of the elections to speed up this work, since investigations inherently take time as staff interview witnesses and pursue relevant documents and records. As the midterm elections approach, Democrats poised to lead committees with relevant jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security have begun staffing up in anticipation of a change in control of Congress.

New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Maggie Hassan, is poised to take the gavel of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee should her party prevail in November. Hassan, who already began probing contracting decisions at DHS from her more limited perch as the top Democratic senator on the Joint Economic Commission, is hiring staff and preparing to continue her oversight work atop the Senate Homeland Security panel in the next Congress.

For now, House Democrats — mainly Garcia and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who is poised to take over the Judiciary Committee — are vowing they will coordinate their efforts and work together.

“We view this as a responsibility that belongs to every committee and every member of congress … this is just an overwhelming mountain of corruption and authoritarianism that we face,” Raskin said.

Congress

John Barrasso to campaign with Ken Paxton

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso will campaign with Ken Paxton next week in Texas as Republicans work overtime to try to hold onto the endangered seat.

Barrasso said in an interview that he plans to join a bus tour with Paxton, who is locked in a tossup battle with Democrat James Talarico despite Donald Trump carrying Texas by roughly 14 percentage points two years ago.

The No. 2 leader, Barrasso is the most senior Senate Republican to hit the trail in Texas in the general election. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has held fundraisers with Paxton but has not publicly campaigned with him.

Barrasso also plans to campaign with former Rep. Mike Rogers in Michigan and Rep. Andy Barr in Kentucky. He was also in South Carolina this week with Trump and said he had made stops in Iowa, Ohio and Kansas — all home to battleground Senate races.

Republicans are navigating steep headwinds as they try to fend off Democratic momentum and voter dissatisfaction to keep their majority. But Barrasso said he was “very optimistic” that the party would keep control of the Senate.

“There’s a lot of energy at every event I’ve gone to, and of course there are eight, 10 races now, a number for sure, that are within the margin of error,” Barrasso said. “So there’s a lot at stake in the next week and a half, and nothing’s going to be left on the field.”

He said races for Democratic-held seats in Michigan, Minnesota and New Hampshire are still within the GOP’s grasp. But Republicans are also on defense in states like Kansas, Iowa and Texas where Trump won easily in 2024.

Republicans have poured hundreds of millions of dollars into Texas to boost Paxton, even as some in the party lament some of the campaign decisions he’s made.

“I mean, I hope Ken Paxton wins. … But you know, Ken Paxton also has some responsibility here to be a better candidate and to raise some of his own money and to not be a drain on the system,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said in an interview Thursday. “Having said all that, I hope he’s a senator.”

Democrats are now pushing into even deeper red territory, including South Carolina and Mississippi. Barrasso, in the interview, said that he was “very confident” that Republicans would hold both states, which have seen an influx of late spending.

“You know the president has really opened up his campaign coffers, and he’s fully invested time as well as money,” Barrasso said. “Every candidate wishes there were more resources, every candidate, so there’s no surprise there, but we feel we’re fully resourced to get … the message out.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Bennie Thompson warns about Dems’ late bet

Published

1 day ago

October 23, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

National Democrats finally went into Mississippi this week, putting over $1 million behind Scott Colom‘s campaign to unseat Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith.

To the state’s most prominent Democrat, it was welcome — but too late.

“Anything is appreciated, and I don’t want to seem like people here are not appreciative. But you know, we’ve been singing this song for almost a year,” Rep. Bennie Thompson said in an interview. “Scott is a quality candidate and he could’ve benefited from early recognition from the Senate Majority PAC and others.”

Thompson’s sentiments reflect ongoing frustration among some Democrats who have been beating the drum for more national investment in Black candidates in races once seen as long shots that are now anything but.

“Mississippi people are ready for a new direction. They’re ready to fire Cindy Hyde-Smith. They want somebody that’s going to actually look out for our state, and it’s great that the country is starting to realize that,” Colom said in an interview.

The sentiments were also echoed by Florida Democrat Angie Nixon, who is on her own quest to defeat incumbent GOP Sen. Ashley Moody.

Nixon, referring more broadly to national Democratic donors, said the party needs to do more in her state, and stat.

“I can win. I’m going to win. We just need people to really lean into this moment right now,” she told Dasha Burns in the latest episode of The Conversation.

Neither the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee nor Senate Majority PAC has publicly announced a Florida television buy on her behalf, but Nixon was clear that the DSCC has been “very helpful” recently, opening up doors to connect her with donors and having her participate in fundraisers with DSCC head Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“They are now seeing that this seat is actually winnable,” Nixon said.

Colom has also been a part of DSCC fundraisers and Schumer has directed donors to him.

The Senate Majority PAC declined to comment. DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle said Nixon and Colom are running “inspiring and energetic campaigns” and that her group is “committed to expanding the map as much as possible” despite limited resources and a flood of Republican money.

But Thompson argued that party leaders need to move much faster in the future to invest early in strong candidates who can mobilize the large populations of Black voters in Southern states that others deem unwinnable.

“The South in general is ripe for Democrats, but it has to be a sustained investment,” he said. “Given the loyalty that the African American population gives to the Democratic Party, it is just an ideal opportunity to grow the party and ultimately get some Democrats elected.”

“But,” he added, “that engagement can’t come two weeks or less before the general election.”

What else we’re watching:

— DEMOCRATS’ LOOMING TRADE BATTLE: Cracks in Democrats’ trade policy are starting to emerge within the party, even as candidates are presenting a united front on repealing Trump’s tariffs on the campaign trail. The simmering debate over how far to reject Trump’s trade agenda cuts across geography and ideology. It’s likely to bubble into public view in the coming months as Democrats prepare to assume more power in Congress and jump into the wide-open upcoming presidential primary.

— DEMS WANT MULLIN IN HOTSEAT: A top priority for Democrats if they get more power in Congress in November: Forcing the Trump administration’s controversial and unpopular immigration crackdown back in the headlines. And one of the people they plan to go after hard is Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin — the former lawmaker who was brought into the role in part because he was seen as someone who could play well with Congress, unlike former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem. A House Democratic aide said that committees plan to look at how DHS under Mullin has failed to deploy body cameras to many immigration agents, allowed dismal conditions at immigration facilities and failed to cooperate with the department’s Inspector General.

Adam Wren, Daniel Desrochers and Eric Bazail-Eimil contributed to this report.