While Bill Clinton may have signed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) into law back in 1996, Florida Democrats at the state and national level are cheering the U.S. Supreme Court ruling it as unconstitutional.

State CFO Jeff Atwater announced on Wednesday that Chris Cate will be his new communications director starting on July 8.

In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional on Wednesday. "What this means, in plain terms, is that same-sex couples who are legally married will be entitled to equal treatment under federal law -- with regard to, for example, income taxes and Social Security benefits," wrote Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog.

An alternate juror in George Zimmerman's second-degree murder trial has been dismissed for reasons unrelated to the case. Juror B-72, a young man who talked about arm wrestling and one-armed pull-ups, was dismissed by Judge Debra Nelson on Wednesday. The judge also ruled in favor of the use of previous 911 calls made by Zimmerman before the death of Trayvon Martin.

On Wednesday, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) joined with All Aboard Florida (AAF) to announce they had reached an agreement to give AAF the right of way on parts of State Road 528 in Central Florida. AAF is planning to connect Orlando and the southeastern part of the state with passenger rail service. AAF will pay FDOT $275,000 a year, allowing adjustments for inflation, for the next 50 years.

On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., sent a letter he had drafted last week to U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., calling for a vote in the Senate on creating the Keystone XL Pipeline. At a time when our constituents think of Washington as a broken record of partisan bickering and false promises, we have a real opportunity to show Congress coming together to act on their behalf, Yoho argued. Seven other congressmen joined the freshman from Florida in signing off on the letter.

On Tuesday, Gov. Rick Scott named two familiar faces to the Florida Transportation Commission -- John Browning and former Sen. Jim Sebesta.

On Tuesday, U.S. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., joined up with U.S. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, to unveil a bill aimed at stopping President Barack Obama from launching military action in Syria -- including arming the various factions there -- without getting the permission of Congress.

As Congress continues to kick over immigration reform, a new poll shows the issue is becoming increasingly important to American voters. Rasmussen Reports released a poll on Tuesday which shows 51 percent of likely voters say the issue is very important in shaping how they will vote in the next congressional election. Around a third -- 32 percent -- say the issue is somewhat important in how they will vote while 15 percent say it is not very important or not important at all in determining how they will vote in 2014.

Rep. Ryan Winkler, D-Minn., faced heavy criticism on Tuesday after a questionable and racially-charged tweet about the Supreme Court's decision on the Voting Rights Act went out on his Twitter account. The tweet read: "#SCOTUS VRA majority is four accomplices to race discrimination and one Uncle Thomas. Marriage decision may blur Court's backsliding."

Coy Koontz's heirs, and the American people, may have scored a major property rights victory with today's landmark ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in the case ofKoontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, but that doesn't mean the case is dead.

In a historic ruling that signals an end to more than 40 years of federal elections law, the U.S. Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that require certain states and other jurisdictions to get federal preclearance before changing their voting laws. Five of those jurisdictions are in Florida.

National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has been playing hide-and-seek with the U.S. government, has been reported to be in a transit zone at the Moscow Airport, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia said they had no plans to extradite Snowden to the United States earlier on Tuesday. The Obama administration has been pressuring the Russian government to send Snowden back to the United States. But Sergey Lavrov, Russia's foreign minister, said Russia has no intentions of backing down to pressure from the U.S. government.

U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia, D-Fla., is facing major heat from an election scandal which even led to the resignation of his chief of staff. But Garcia still has allies among top national Democrats, as was seen on Tuesday when political strategist and pundit James Carville went to bat for him. Carville sent out an email to supporters on Tuesday, urging them to contribute to Garcias campaign.

In a landmark ruling that strengthens Americans' property rights protections, the U.S. Supreme Court has overturned a 2011 decision by the five Florida Supreme Court justices commonly accused of being liberal activists.