Florida still doesn’t have a CFO. What is DeSantis waiting for? | Opinion
It’s been 2 1/2 months since Jimmy Patronis left his role as Florida’s chief financial officer to run for Congress, and Gov. Ron DeSantis still hasn’t named his replacement. Initially, DeSantis said he would appoint a CFO to fill the remainder of Patronis’ term by the middle of May, but now it’s the middle of June. How is Florida paying its bills?
Even the ex-CFO has lost patience with the delays.
“Without a CFO in place, who in the hell is doing the business of the people?” a plainly exasperated Patronis asked in an interview with former Congressman Matt Gaetz on his One American News Network show June 5.
It’s a good question, and one Florida taxpayers should be asking. The CFO’s job not is a ceremonial position. It’s an elected statewide cabinet post mandated by the state constitution. The CFO oversees the Department of Financial Services and is in charge of paying the state’s bills, overseeing the Florida treasury and overseeing the Office of Insurance Regulation, and also serves as the state Fire Marshal.
After Patronis won his special election on April 1, the Miami Herald Editorial Board called on the governor to fill the vacancy. Back then, the Miami Editorial Board noted that DeSantis may have been holding the appointment as a bargaining chip with the Legislature. Technically, lawmakers are still in session right now and will be until a state budget is hammered out. But at this point, the governor’s failure to pick a CFO is serious.
Patronis’ former chief of staff, Susan Miller, is currently in charge of the Department of Financial Services. But she is not the state CFO, so how can she handle all of the job’s responsibilities, such as signing checks?
The state financial services department insists everything is business as usual. In a statement to the Miami Herald Editorial Board, the communications director for DFS, Devin Galetta, said the department “continues to conduct state business and there has been no interruption of Department services during this transition period.”
But there are other parts of the job, like fire marshal. What about that?
Patronis’ resignation was no surprise. He announced it, effective March 31, way back in November. On March 25, he issued a memo requesting his name be removed from all Department of Financial Services documents, websites, warrants and payment methods. Patronis also revoked the use of an autopen signature on his behalf. He expressed willingness to help with the transition.
On May 12, at a press conference on Florida’s leadership in immigration enforcement, when asked about filling cabinet vacancies, DeSantis told reporters, “every day that goes by we’re a little bit closer. I did say I wanted to get through the legislative session and see how the dust settled. Obviously, dust is still settling.”
Is it still settling even now?
Two people have been discussed as potential picks: Joe Gruters, the former state Republican Party chair and Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, a Republican from Spring Hill. Gruters, who is a candidate for CFO in the November 2026 elections, has Trump’s endorsement. Ingoglia, meanwhile, told Florida Politico Playbook, “If the governor asks me to continue my service to the state of Florida in that position, I would.”
Floridians deserve a full cabinet, not prolonged vacancies and power plays.
As we have said before, if DeSantis can make other high profile appointments to fill vacancies — former Attorney General Ashley Moody to Marco Rubio’s former Senate seat, for example — he can appoint a new CFO. And while he’s at it, he could appoint a lieutenant governor. The job has also been vacant since February.
It’s clear that DeSantis is stalling on filling the role. To Floridians, it no doubt looks more like playing games with Florida’s fiscal operations than a strategic political calculation. DeSantis’ failure to appoint a successor is a disservice to the state and its taxpayers.
As Patronis said during the interview with Gaetz: “Dang it, get somebody in there.”
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