Mike Prendergast is out as Gov. Rick Scotts chief of staff as the governor announced on Monday that the retired Army officer would take over the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs if approved by the Cabinet on Wednesday.

I can think of no better advocate on behalf of Floridas 1.6 million veterans, their families and survivors, than Mike Prendergast, said Scott. His devotion to duty and commitment to our military men and women will be evident in the way he advocates for their health and economic well-being.

On Monday, Florida Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio took aim at the national debt, introducing measures to curb it and reduce federal spending -- including a measure to defund the EPAs higher water regulations targeting the Sunshine State.

Quran-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones was mobbed by protesters outside the Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Mich., amid shouts of "Go Back to Florida."

The Daily Mail reported Monday that scuffles broke out and six people were arrested as Jones walked down a street toward the festival with some of his supporters.

Jones, from Gainesville, was in Dearborn, one of the most heavily populated Arab enclaves in the United States, to hold an anti-Islam rally and counterprotest against the festival, the Mail reported.