Florida DOGE asks Orange County leaders for access to financial records, and some states, including Florida, consider mid-decade redistricting. 

Florida DOGE takes on Orange County in latest push

The Florida Department of Government Efficiency Task Force is starting to audit county finances across the state.

The audits so far are looking into finances in Manatee, Broward, and Orange counties, as well as the city of Gainesville.

In Orange County, an 8-page letter was sent to Mayor Jerry Demings requesting specific documents and a deeper look into how the county government operates.

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said they’ve been fiscally responsible for years and will continue to do so.

“We have been fiscally prudent throughout the course of my entire mayorship, we have some of the highest bond ratings of any city in the state. We budget very conservatively, so we feel pretty good about that,” Dyer said.

Orange County Commissioner Mayra Uribe is working to provide the documentation requested, which is thousands of pages in records over the last five years.

The letter states that officials will need access to the county administrative building and any other locations like it to review its “physical premises, data systems and responsive personnel” by next week.

Newly appointed Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia will lead the charge with the support of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

They will work in partnership with DOGE and the Office of Policy and Budget to determine and report potential instances of excessive spending.

“Any time that we have to show our funds and how we’re spending it, absolutely that is the minimum of what people expect out of their local government. So, to me, I don’t actually think it’s a problem. I think that it we’re just going in accordance with what we should be doing. If we’ve done good management of money, it’s going to show. And if there are some issues this comes out, it’s going to show,” Uribe said.

She added that just a couple of weeks ago, the county went through its budget process where every division presented its expenses and budget to the county board of commissioners.

Some of the specific requests in the letter include access to documents regarding procurement and contracting, personnel compensation, utilities, diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

In a written statement, Demings said the county intends to comply, but shared that state officials should keep in mind the substantial growth the county has seen since 2020, which has resulted in an increased demand for public services. Commissioner Uribe says the county is working to comply with the request.

It’s also important to note that state officials can impose fines of $1,000 a day on municipalities that don’t cooperate with the state DOGE audits.

Uthmeier hits Orange County government on immigration policy

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is warning Orange County leaders of the potential consequences over a recent decision they made.

Earlier this month, county commissioners declined to sign onto an addendum to their existing agreement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

That addendum would have authorized Orange County Jail employees to transport immigration detainees to facilities approved by ICE.

In doing so, they voiced concerns about the strain that chance could place on local jails, as well as financial concerns related to reimbursement.

Uthmeier sent a letter to county commissioners Tuesday.

“By rejecting this addendum presented by ICE and Florida sheriffs, you adopted a sanctuary policy and failed to exercise best efforts in support of the enforcement of federal immigration law,” Uthmeier wrote in his letter.

Orange County Commissioner Kelly Semrad said that adopting the addendum would have caused the county other problems.

“We would need to hire more corrections officers to do it, on our taxpayer dollar, because we don’t have enough officers in the jail to transport people to places like ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ and not leave their post, and their job, and their responsibility open in the jail. So we don’t have the resources,” Semrad said.

According to Uthmeier, state law prohibits local governments or law enforcement from adopting “sanctuary policies.”

In his letter, the attorney general cites a pair of cases involving undocumented immigrants who have been accused of crimes in Orange County this year.

Adding that any effort by the county commissioners to modify the county’s “Intergovernmental service agreement” with U.S. Marshals, which was suggested at their meeting earlier this month, would represent another violation of state law.

States, including Florida, consider mid-decade redistricting

As Republicans in Texas pursue a mid-decade redistricting effort for its congressional seats at the direction of President Donald Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that Florida could follow suit. 

It comes as Republicans face an uncertain future to retain control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the House, Florida Republicans hold 20 of the state’s 28 seats. Typically, states wait to redraw their congressional districts after the U.S. Census, but DeSantis said it is possible Florida Republicans could move to act sooner.

“I do think it would be appropriate to do a redistricting here in the mid-decade,” DeSantis said Thursday. “So, we’re working through what that would look like, but I can tell you, just look at how population has shifted in different parts of the state over a four-or five-year period. It’s been really significant.” 

Currently, Texas Republicans are working to redraw their congressional lines during a special session ahead of the midterm elections. In response, California Gov. Gavin Newsom vows his state will also act to redistrict if Texas does so. 

“You’re seeing the same response in California, tit-for-tat redistricting and gerrymandering, again, with no concern for public feedback, for community representation, with the sole purpose of scoring political points and squeezing more Democratic seats out of Democratic maps and more Republican seats out of Republican maps,” said Common Cause Senior Policy Director of Voting and Fair Representation Dan Vicuna.

Recently, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of the DeSantis administration over the state’s 2022 Congressional map. Voting rights groups said it diminished the power of Black voters by redrawing former Rep. Al Lawson’s district in North Florida.

Following the DeSantis comments about a mid-decade redistricting last week, Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said, “This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to rig the system and silence voters before the 2026 election. Now, after gutting representation for Black Floridians and stacking the court to uphold it, he wants to further gerrymander and suppress the vote of millions of Floridians.”

Republicans now have a 1.3 million voter registration edge over Democrats in Florida.