Despite not yet starting his second term in the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., continues to rapidly rise up the congressional ladder despite breaking with the GOP leadership in voting against the $1.1 trillion federal spending bill, popularly dubbed the CRomnibus, earlier this month.
DeSantis will chair the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Security for the 114th Congress. U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, the chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform named DeSantis to the post on Tuesday. Chaffetz had led the subcommittee, which oversees homeland security and some foreign affairs matters, before taking his current post.
This week, after being named to the post, DeSantis insisted there was work to be done in light of the President Barack Obama administrations shortcomings.
"The federal government's core responsibility is to protect the security of our nation and the American people, DeSantis said. Yet, from the release of terrorist detainees by the Defense Department to habitual failures of the Department of Homeland Security regarding border security, the bureaucracy has fallen short of what the American people expect. I am thankful to Chairman-elect Jason Chaffetz for tapping me to lead this subcommittee, and I look forward to working with him and the rest of the committee's members to hold our national security agencies accountable on behalf of the American people."
Congressman DeSantis military experience and leadership will help ensure effective oversight and accountability on some of the biggest issues facing national security, Chaffetz said. I look forward to working with him in his new role.
This is not the only leadership plum DeSantis has received in recent days. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., the chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, named DeSantis the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice. DeSantis will serve under U.S. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., who will continue to chair the committee. The Florida congressman replaces U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as the vice chairman of the subcommittee which has authority over constitutional amendments, constitutional and civil rights, torts, medical malpractice and other legal matters.
Only 36, DeSantis was first elected to Congress in 2012 after studying at Yale and Harvard Law and serving in the Navy JAG Corps. Before winning a seat in Congress, DeSantis wrote Dreams From Our Founding Fathers: First Principles in the Age of Obama pushing back at Obamas Dreams from My Father memoir.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
