“We will not stand idly by as the left tries to infiltrate our institutions and use the court system to indoctrinate our kids,” Uthmeier said. “We will fight the activists that try to weaken our duly enacted laws, that try to challenge the constitutional order, and that try to harm the unborn.”
The ceremony came a month after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that Uthmeier, his chief of staff of more than three years, would replace Ashley Moody as attorney general after he appointed her to the U.S. Senate.
“We had an opportunity to make a selection for a very important statewide office and an office that really could make a difference in the lives of Floridians, an office that obviously was very prominent when we were battling Washington during the Biden administration, but also can be very important as we’re here in this new era of American governance,” DeSantis said during the ceremony.
Florida Supreme Court Justice Meredith Sasso administered Uthmeier’s oath of office. The new attorney general had joined the governor’s office as deputy general counsel in 2019 and later became general counsel. He graduated from the University of Florida and earned his law degree from Georgetown University.
When asked earlier this month when Uthmeier’s appointment would become official, DeSantis said the then-chief of staff was working with lawmakers to resolve the dispute that started when the Republican leaders of the Legislature ditched the governor’s proposals on immigration enforcement and passed their own. The quarrel has since fizzled out, and the Legislature passed and the governor signed compromise legislation on Thursday.
One of the new laws creates the State Board of Immigration Enforcement — comprising the governor, the attorney general, the chief financial officer, and the agriculture commissioner — which was to hold its first meeting Monday afternoon. Those officers make up the Florida Cabinet.
“We wanted him to have this and have a little reception, but then we’re getting on the road with the Cabinet today, and we’re implementing the immigration legislation, and we’re off to the races,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis would also get to appoint a CFO if Jimmy Patronis wins election to Congress on April 1. Patronis is expected to win the special election to replace Matt Gaetz in the heavily Republican Panhandle district.
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This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2025.