When it comes to a politician's social media status in Florida, Sen. Marco Rubio is a clear leader. During his campaign, his twitter feed had more followers than Alex Sink's, Kendrick Meek's, and Charlie Crist's (his closest competitors in the social universe) combined. He also blew away the competition in Facebook.

Now that Rubio is officially out of campaign mode, he's switching his social media accounts to reflect his newly sworn-in position of U.S. senator.

In his latest blog post, Fox News analyst and Weekly Standard editor William Kristol has expressed his desire to see a 2012 Republican presidential ticket featuring U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., leading the way and the newest U.S. senator from Florida, Marco Rubio, on the slate as the vice presidential nominee.

He also wants his fellow Republicans to get on board and skip the costly primary process.

With the new session of Congress opening, Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns is a busy man, filing 11 bills in the opening two days.

The American people have diverse needs and these measures reflect many of the major issues they face, said Stearns on Thursday. These are proposals that I offered in the last Congress, some of which were approved by the House, and I hope that all of them will proceed to enactment. It is an honor to represent the people of the 6th Congressional District and to offer these measures on their behalf.

The U.S. House members voted to trim their own office budgets by 5 percent on Thursday and Florida Republicans are insisting it is a good start to controlling federal spending.

The Republican Study Committee (RSC) -- which labels itself the caucus of House conservatives -- has 70 new members from the Republican congressional freshmen.

Five of the seven new Republicans from Florida have joined: U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, U.S. Rep. Rich Nugent, U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, U.S. Rep. Dan Webster and U.S. Rep. Allen West. U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross and U.S. Rep. David Rivera have not joined the RSC.

Gov. Rick Scott has named Kurt Browning to serve as Floridas secretary of state -- a post he held under former Gov. Charlie Crist.

Scott praised Brownings experience handling election issues. Browning served more than two decades as supervisor of elections in Pasco County.

Gov. Rick Scott announced that Michelle Rhee, who was on his transition team and served as chancellor of public schools in the Washington, D.C., area, will continue as an adviser on education.

Freshman U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, who entered Congress on Wednesday as part of the new Republican majority, weighed in on his new role and pledged to fight for conservative ideals.

It is a great honor to serve the citizens of the 2nd Congressional District, and I take my responsibility seriously, said Southerland. Todays swearing in ceremony represents the turning of the page to a new era.For too long Washington has not reflected the values of, or faced the same challenges experienced by, communities across America.

On Wednesday, Gov. Rick Scott told the Department of Management Services to sell the states two airplanes -- a 2000 King Air 350 and a 2003 Cessna Citation Bravo. This move will reduce the budget by $2.4 million annually.

The privilege of using a state-owned aircraft is an unnecessary burden to taxpayers, especially when lower-cost travel options exist, said Scott. As elected officials it is our responsibility to utilize the most affordable options for official business, and I do not believe state-owned airplanes are the best option.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney is back in Washington -- and looking forward to being part of the new Republican majority.

Serving the people of Floridas 16th district for a second term is a great honor, said Rooney on Wednesday. I am humbled by this opportunity to help lead our nation during difficult times.