DeSantis says Florida is ‘returning’ unspent federal money to show DOGE support

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Ron DeSantis says he recently returned nearly $1 billion in federal funds, a move he claimed showcased Florida’s leadership role in federal “DOGE efforts.”

But the money in question was either turned down previously or never requested.

“For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration—but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it,” DeSantis posted on social media late Friday, after meeting with Elon Musk in Washington DC.

In one day, he wrote, “we got this done.”

Some of the money he identified for return was rejected by state officials two years ago. And all of it could have helped Floridians, critics say. The federal money was earmarked to reduce exhaust emission from cars and trucks and to help legal refugees, most of them from Cuba and Haiti, settle in Florida, the state with the largest refugee program in the nation.

“Any time Florida doesn’t spend the federal money allotted toward us it’s literally us taxpayers writing a check back to the feds for money that we never see again,” said Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando.

Florida accepts billions of dollars in federal money each year, an amount that state economists say is likely to dwindle under the Trump administration. The unspent funds DeSantis highlighted represents a fraction of the more than $36 billion in federal grants the state received last year. Federal money accounted for 37% of the state’s revenue in the last fiscal year.

This is also not the first time that the DeSantis administration has turned down federal dollars due to what it claimed were “ideological strings attached” by President Joe Biden’s administration. In the last few years, the administration has turned down an estimated $11 billion.

The money DeSantis claimed he is “formally” returning includes $320.4 million turned down in December, 2023 by Transportation Secretary Jared Perdue, according to a letter DeSantis sent to the U.S. Treasury on Friday.

Perdue had called the “Carbon Reduction” program that provided those funds an example of government overreach and “the continued politicization of our roadways.” Florida was the only state to turn down the funding.

Those grants also would have helped the Florida Department of Transportation expand parking spaces for semitrailers at rest stops along the state’s highways and adopt other measures to fight emissions most scientists have linked to climate change.

DeSantis said the transportation department would return the $49 million it already received via wire transfer, and asked the US Department of Transportation not to send the remaining $271 million.

The other $557.7 million is the unspent portion of money the US Department of Health and Human Services made available to the Florida Department of Children and Families for refugee social services programs.

The state received $1.2 billion for that program, which aims to help refugees with housing, food and medical care.

Eskamani said cutting assistance to refugees is part of DeSantis’ crusade against illegal immigration in Florida.

Florida has among the fastest growing refugee communities in the nation, with nearly 173,000 refugees who arrived or became eligible for refugee services in the last fiscal year, according to data by the Department of Children and Families Refugee Services page. All those helped have legal immigration status.

The largest two groups are Cubans and Haitians — both now targeted by President Trump for deportation.

“These are all political decisions,” Eskamani said. “DeSantis doesn’t want to pursue energy efficiency or carbon reductions, which are good for both our pocketbooks and the environment.”