TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For the last six years, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been used to getting his way with the state Legislature, at times slashing the priorities of Republican leaders and calling them back to Tallahassee to pass bills that boost his political profile.

No more.

DeSantis now finds himself in a place he’s never been before: in a standoff with the state’s Republican House speaker and Senate president over his call for a special legislative session next week to change laws on immigration, voting and condominiums.

So far, DeSantis appears to be losing.

He’s taken to publicly shaming GOP lawmakers on X and on Fox News, accusing them of hypocrisy by not supporting President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. On Tuesday, he sent a plea through the Republican Party of Florida’s email list asking voters to call their local lawmakers.

On Thursday, DeSantis held a news conference in Jacksonville to pressure lawmakers to act on immigration.

“Monday’s special session is a great opportunity for the members of the Florida Legislature to basically put their money where their mouth is,” DeSantis said.

Two years ago, some were crowning DeSantis as Trump’s replacement in Republican politics. Now, in the final two years in office after badly losing to Trump in the presidential primary, his style and influence may be wearing thin.

“Flailing guy losing relevance,” said Sen. Randy Fine, R-Melbourne Beach, one of the Legislature’s most fervent immigration hawks and one of the few Republicans in the chamber to publicly clash with DeSantis.

“It’s just theater. None of this is real,” Fine said of DeSantis.

State lawmakers can pass the measures when they meet for their annual 60-day legislative session on March 5.

But DeSantis has made a habit of calling them back to Tallahassee for two- or three-day special sessions to pass some of his legislative agenda ahead of time.

Past governors have used that power sparingly, typically for emergencies. DeSantis has called them back eight times since 2021, including twice to address the property insurance crisis.

Other special sessions have stretched the definition of an emergency, however. A month before the 2023 session, he called them back to continue his fight with the Walt Disney Co. Later that year, he called them back to show support for Israel.

Earlier this month, he surprised lawmakers by announcing he wanted them back in Tallahassee to help Trump’s immigration agenda and to address condominium relief, hurricane response and reforms to the citizen initiative process to amend the state Constitution.

The House speaker Daniel Perez and Senate President Ben Albritton, both Republicans, quickly refused.

Although they said they strongly supported Trump’s agenda, they said it was “completely irresponsible” to rush to deal with complicated issues. There are “ample funds” already to help with disaster response, they wrote.

They noted that DeSantis didn’t propose “any actual bill language or even meaningful details” to consider. They also said that the governor’s office only gave them a 15-minute heads-up before he announced the special session. (DeSantis' public calendar shows no phone calls or meetings with Albritton or Perez since October.)

The result could be that lawmakers show up to Tallahassee Monday morning and promptly leave.

The Legislature’s pushback has harkened back to a time in which lawmakers more regularly exercised their power against the governor.

“Maybe the Legislature is going back to being the Legislature again,” said GOP Sen. Ed Hooper.

DeSantis has since released more details but quietly pared back his agenda for the special session, focusing on some immigration proposals and changes to the state’s initiative petition laws. Among his requests is the ability to transport migrants living in the country illegally outside the United States, broadening a program that he used to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in 2022, and allowing the National Guard and Florida State Guard to assist in deportations.

One of the ideas — appointing a state immigration enforcement officer to work with the feds — shouldn’t require legislative action at all.

But he’s dropped some of his other proposals, including making it a crime for local police and elected officials to fail to fully cooperate with state and federal immigration directives.

DeSantis' pressure campaign for the special session has extended to state agency officials. During legislative committee meetings last week, state officials appeared to have been given orders to talk about illegal immigration regardless of whether it related to their agency, leading to awkward exchanges between Republicans.

When Florida Lottery Secretary John Davis switched from talking about gaming security to eliminating in-state tuition for students who are living in the country illegally — one of DeSantis' priorities for the special session — GOP Rep. Vicki Lopez stopped him.

“I’m surprised I have to remind anyone again,” Lopez said, eyeing a row of DeSantis officials. “I would like very much for you to stay on task. Just tell us what the lottery department does.”

DeSantis’ political team also hosted a call with county party officials on Thursday to talk about the governor’s special session plans next week, Republican Party of Florida Chairperson Evan Power confirmed in an interview Thursday.

Based on conversations Power had with state lawmakers, he said he’s certain that the Legislature will act on immigration — but when and what they will do remains uncertain.

“I think the issue is, they are waiting to see what the plan is,” he said. “I think timing is the question.”

Fine said he believes DeSantis' timing of the special session is the main reason why leaders are pushing back.

Legislative committees were already scheduled to meet in Tallahassee in five of the six weeks leading up to the March 5 session. DeSantis chose to call this special session during the only week lawmakers wouldn’t be in town, Fine noted.

“His staff is so incompetent they might not have known we wouldn’t be there that week,” he said.

(Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau reporters Romy Ellenbogen and Alexandra Glorioso contributed to this report.)

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