The Florida Senate Republicans have refused to confirm that Tina Descovich, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, would serve on the ethics commission. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo said the procedural move had placed Descovich’s confirmation “on hold.”
Last year, Governor Ron DeSantis chose Descovich for the Florida Ethics Commission. This role required confirmation from the Senate within two years. A Republican-led Senate committee forwarded Descovich’s approval for confirmation last month. Unfortunately, on Thursday, Descovich didn’t make the list of new appointees for the ethics panel.
At the panel, Senators raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest. One lawmaker questioned if Descovich’s role with Moms for Liberty could be considered lobbying. “There is a concern that Ms. Descovich’s employment could constitute lobbying the Legislature. That issue requires additional review before Senate confirmation,” spokeswoman Katie Betta told the Daily Beast.
Betta also informed The Daily Beast that DeSantis had 30 days after the legislative session ended to reappoint Descovich to the commission. This is because her term is to end in June. If he does, the Senate will probably reconsider her confirmation when it reconvenes in March 2025.
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According to Florida law, Betta explained, any appointee awaiting Senate confirmation will remain on their board for two years. “Every year, a handful of appointees may not make it through the whole process for one reason or another.”
The Senate president also mentioned that Descovich’s absence from the appointment approval list wasn’t due to an ethics complaint against her. Instead, she “was appointed sort of late in the process.”
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“Some citizen said he would file an ethics complaint and politicize our process. And that troubles me because that’s not what we do,” Passidomo said. “So, (we) put it on hold, and if the Governor reappoints her, she’ll return. It will allow us to go through the whole process.”
As the Miami Herald reported, the delayed vote is another setback for Moms for Liberty and Descovich. Descovich was criticized for dodging questions in an awkward 60 Minutes appearance. This happened after one of the group’s co-founders, Bridget Ziegler, got caught in a scandal against what Moms for Liberty stood for.
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Also, Descovich’s denial is another blow for DeSantis. The Governor used to have a strong hold on Florida politics before he dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. This week, the Legislature’s final budget did not allow New College of Florida to keep the $15 million in one-time funding it got last year.
DeSantis had asked publicly for these funds. They also reduced the amount of money DeSantis wanted for fixing a mold issue at New College. DeSantis has requested $12.5 million, but the Legislature halved it to $6.25 million.
Descovich serves on the state ethics board and holds the executive director position at Moms for Liberty. The organization has been advocating for book bans and pushing to remove school board members in Florida who don’t align with their conservative and anti-LGBTQ beliefs.
During Descovich’s confirmation hearing, Democrats questioned her about her role in Moms for Liberty and her elected official job. But Descovich defended both, saying she saw her work in Moms for Liberty differently from her Senate duties. After the hearing, the senators claimed Descovich wasn’t suitable for the job because of possible conflicts with lobbying rules.
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