Two Florida Republicans were named to top posts on the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday. 

On Monday night in Tampa, the Clemson Tigers dethroned the Alabama Crimson Tide in college football's national championship game. The next few days in Tallahassee proved that there's still a long way to go before we know who will come out on top in a different kind of season: the 2017 legislative session.

But the jockeying for position, which had died down a little bit over the holidays, returned to the spotlight.

U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oreg., the top Democrat on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, turned to South Florida to bring on a new member. 

President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he was ending the federal policy of allowing Cubans who arrive to the U.S. without visas to stay, drawing fire from Florida Republicans in Congress. The “wet-foot/dry-foot” policy has been used by refugees fleeing the Castro regime. 

This week, U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., brought back his proposal to increase access for congressional staffers to have access to help clear the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) backlog.

Two congressmen from Florida--Republican Tom Rooney and Democrat Ted Deutch--are bringing back a proposal to protect veterans against fraud that the U.S. House passed without opposition last year. 

While he did not win the gavel after former U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., retired, U.S. Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., will stay as the vice chairman of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee. 

A senator instrumental in the passage of the Legislature's last major gambling bill released a massive proposal Thursday that would allow slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved them, let South Florida pari-mutuels run blackjack games, and give tracks permission to do away with greyhound racing while keeping lucrative cardrooms and slots.

With the Florida Legislature already holding committee meetings in Tallahassee, on Thursday, the Florida Chamber of Commerce unveiled its agenda for the upcoming session. 

Kicking open the door to running for governor in 2018, Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine announced on Thursday that this would be his last term in his current post and he was interested in solving problems across the state.