Florida Gov. DeSantis to head to DC, looking to loosen strings on federal money

Gov. Ron DeSantis will fly to Washington, D.C., on Friday to meet with the heads of several federal agencies, hoping to persuade them to approve more money with fewer strings across a broad swath of programs and projects.

DeSantis spoke after signing new agreements between state law enforcement agencies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing the state to provide greater support in enforcing immigration laws.

One of the main projects is the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir, which is designed to store excess water from Lake Okeechobee before it is treated and sent south to the Everglades. The reservoir broke ground in 2023 under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers but isn't expected to be complete until 2034.

"Our request is going to be, just block grant us the money, cut the Army Corps out and let us build the damn thing," DeSantis told reporters Wednesday. "We'll get it done a lot quicker. We will do it a lot better."

The massive construction project is seen as vital to help prevent discharges of polluted water from the lake, which currently flow either side of the lake often befouling waterways on both coasts and producing massive kills of marine life. Florida has already spent nearly $300 million to help build it, and the federal government is expected to pay for the rest of the nearly $4 billion cost.

Another part of speeding the progress of the EAA reservoir, DeSantis said, would be to resurrect Florida's 404 program, which granted the state the power to approve environmental project permits, instead of relying on the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to process them. A federal court last year struck the program down.

"It just allows our state officials to follow federal law but issue permits if people are in compliance with federal law," DeSantis said. "If it stays with the Army Corps it takes forever, and that has implications for commerce and the economy."

DeSantis also wants the U.S. Department of Commerce to allow Florida to manage the red snapper season in the Atlantic Ocean, which he said had a limited season last year due to "bad science."

In higher education, DeSantis plans to push the U.S. Department of Education to overhaul how they evaluate and choose accreditation entities that review universities and colleges.

DeSantis has consistently warned about "leftist indoctrination" in higher education, and pushed for a law allowing Florida schools to choose a different accrediting body other than the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. DeSantis sued the Department of Education over the SACSCS in 2023 but the lawsuit was later dismissed.

And DeSantis said he'll speak to Health and Human Services officials about jumpstarting Florida's program to import cheap drugs from Canada. At the same time, DeSantis admitted the Canadian government is unlikely to approve the sale of any drugs to the U.S., as the country opposed the program even before Trump's proposed tariffs.

"They've been opposed to this from the beginning because it's kind of a golden goose for them," DeSantis said. "They get to have these discounted pharmaceuticals and they're basically being subsidized by American consumers."

Gray Rohrer is a reporter with the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at  grohrer@gannett.com . Follow him on X:  @GrayRohrer .

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gov. DeSantis says he's DC-bound, aiming to free up federal dollars