Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is weighing legal action against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his appointment of Shawn Hamilton to the position of secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
DeSantis and Fried have gone back and forth for weeks over an interpretation of the Florida Constitution related to the appointment power of the Florida Cabinet in comparison to the governor’s complete discretion of hiring and firing of secretaries.
During the most recent Florida Cabinet meeting, Fried requested Hamilton’s appointment and public interview be placed on the agenda for the next cabinet meeting.
“My issue is not with him,” Fried said. “It is the procedures of this body.”
“You don’t approve?” DeSantis responded. Fried then noted there is not a motion for the appointment to be considered, to which DeSantis proceeded with the Cabinet meeting.
Florida Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jimmy Patronis (R) appeared to side with Fried, indicating his support for interviewing Hamilton.
“If we could have voted on it today, I’d have been glad to vote yes,” Patronis said. “I think everybody felt like they were supportive of them, but again, the settlement is going to determine the timeline.”
DeSantis has maintained Hamilton’s appointment is an “executive appointment” and only needs the approval of the Florida Legislature, similarly to other agency head selections.
When DeSantis made the appointment in early September, Fried criticized DeSantis in a letter and press release saying he “lacks legal authority” to make the appointment solely by himself.
“I have met with Interim Secretary Hamilton, and I have asked him difficult questions about the environmental challenges facing Florida – including DEP’s failures at Piney Point. I believe him to be a good man and public servant, and he would break a glass ceiling as the first African-American secretary of this agency. My quarrel is not with him.
This appointment requires unanimous confirmation by the Florida Cabinet. As I said in June, you’re going to have to deal with me and our fellow Cabinet members, if you want this appointment to be approved. Nothing has changed in that time, except the alarming increase in your disregard for our state’s laws and the shared governance of the Cabinet, unique among American states”
Fried’s claim is that the Florida Cabinet must be a part of the approval process, but the DeSantis administration has cited a portion of the Florida Constitution which provides an “either-or” stipulation for “designated statutory office.”
“When provided by law, confirmation by the Senate or the approval of three members of the Cabinet shall be required for appointment to or removal from any designated statutory office,” the Florida Constitution says.
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Grant Holcomb is a reporter at the Florida Capital Star and the Star News Network. Follow Grant on Twitter and direct message tips.
Photo “Nikki Fried” by Nikki Fried. Photo “Ron DeSantis” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0. Background Photo “Sculpture in Front of Florida Department of Environmental Protection” by Michael Rivera. CC BY-SA 3.0.
