{"id":230470,"date":"2026-04-13T23:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230470\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T23:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T23:51:09","slug":"byron-donalds-wants-to-expel-two-colleagues-from-congress-ends-daylight-saving-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/230470\/","title":{"rendered":"Byron Donalds wants to expel two colleagues from Congress, ends daylight saving in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 Congressman Byron Donalds<\/a>, the leading Republican candidate for governor, said Monday he is prepared to vote for the expulsion of two of his congressional colleagues, wants Florida to rein in problematic condo and homeowners associations, and it is time for the state to opt out of daylight saving time.<\/p>\n

Donalds spoke about a range of issues in response to audience and news reporters\u2019 questions at a campaign appearance in Coconut Creek, the third stop on his statewide \u201cDefending the Florida Dream\u201d tour.<\/p>\n

He was in Broward to announce a plan to increase state funding to train students for jobs that don\u2019t require college degrees. And he received support from a major organization representing businesses who rely on such workers: Associated Builders and Contractors.<\/p>\n

LaunchPad<\/p>\n

Donalds said his LaunchPad initiative would expand tuition-free apprenticeship opportunities to train people for and place them in high-paying, high-demand careers.<\/p>\n

See also: Miss America pushes back after Florida AG warns pageant groups over transgender policy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s many ways to be successful,\u201d Donalds said, pointing to many jobs that don\u2019t require college degrees. Donalds, a Florida State University graduate who earlier attended Florida A&M University, said many of his peers aren\u2019t working in the areas in which they hold degrees.<\/p>\n

LaunchPad would be industry led and government funded, he said, training people in construction, space trades and skilled trades.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuilding Florida\u2019s next generation when it comes to young people being in these important industries, whether that\u2019s building roads or building rockets, is essential for the future of our state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLaunchPad is going to be driven by industry, not by government,\u201d he said. \u201cEmployers will identify the high-demand fields, and Florida will respond by building the pathways and the partnerships to meet those needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the goal is no tuition, but at one point said it would be implemented \u201chopefully with a zero-tuition outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he would work with Project Launchpad during his first year in office if elected and thinks it could be up and running in 18 to 24 months.<\/p>\n

He said his education initiatives wouldn\u2019t be focused solely on training college-age students.<\/p>\n

He said if elected he would be \u201cworking very closely with the school districts\u201d to ensure students can read, write and do math and to make sure that \u201cour young people have the credentials or the apprenticeships or the ability so that when they can get that high school diploma, they can put real money on the table after high school graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said too many high school graduates \u201chave no pathway to put food on the table for themselves. How do you expect an 18-year-old boy to become a man, find a girl, get married and have kids if he doesn\u2019t even have the skills to put food on the table for himself, and he\u2019s asking his mom? That\u2019s the stuff that we\u2019re gonna be working on.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust to be clear. Boys have to be prepared to be men because male leadership, male leadership, not just in Florida but in the country is critical. If you want to continue this, this grand experiment of America for another 250 years, it starts with families, and that starts with fathers in homes being men, raising their kids, putting food on the table, being responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other issues<\/p>\n

Some of his congressional colleagues were considering a move to expel four members of the House, according to multiple national news reports. Donalds said that wouldn\u2019t happen. \u201cYou can\u2019t do that at once. What\u2019s going to happen is it\u2019s going to be one at a time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said this week could see the expulsion of U.S. Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., accused of sexual assault, and Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who has been accused of sexual misconduct. Both of have denied wrongdoing. Later Monday, Swalwell said he was resigning.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t as definitive about timing or outcomes for two Floridians who some in Congress want to expel: U.S. Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, a Broward-Palm Beach County Democrat accused of financial and ethical wrongdoing, and Cory Mills, a Republican whose district is northeast of Orlando, who is accused of sexual misconduct. Both have denied wrongdoing.<\/p>\n

If the full Ethics Committee recommends expelling Cherfilus-McCormick in coming weeks, Donalds said he would likely vote yes. He was more cautious about Mills, saying he wants to wait for the Ethics Committee to conclude its investigation.<\/p>\n

On daylight saving time, an audience member asked if he\u2019d support joining Arizona as a state that doesn\u2019t change its clocks twice a year.<\/p>\n

And, he said, he wouldn\u2019t wait on Congress to decide on a repeal, an idea that has repeatedly been introduced and stalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I think it\u2019s time. We can just act on our own. We don\u2019t really need the other guys,\u201d Donalds said.<\/p>\n

And he said state regulation of condominium associations and homeowners associations needs to be changed. He said the state agency that oversees HOA and condo associations \u201cis going to have to be redone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added it would be a challenge to \u201cseparate the wheat from the chaff\u201d and deal differently with good associations that people are happy with and problematic associations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to have to make sure as we work on this issue to give people true relief from some of these associations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Close to Trump <\/p>\n

As usual, Donalds \u2014 whose campaign constantly seeks to remind Republican primary voters that he\u2019s President Donald Trump\u2019s endorsed candidate for governor \u2014 didn\u2019t say anything that could indicate he is deviating in any way from the president.<\/p>\n

On Iran, he said he supports Trump\u2019s push to blockade the Strait of Hormuz and said Trump is right to seek to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re crazy. That is a crazy, crazy regime. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

On birthright citizenship, he said he supports Trump\u2019s move to end the constitutional provision that makes someone born in the country a citizen, an issue pending before the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

Donalds said he agrees with a controversial analysis, disputed by many constitutional scholars, that automatic citizenship was intended only \u201cfor the children of Black slaves in order to give them citizenship in a country that had denied them and treated them \u2014 obviously, they were slaves \u2014 as slave labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Trump administration’s deportation policies, he said he supports the president. \u201c100% I support deporting illegals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Political environment<\/p>\n

Donalds faces competition from other Republicans for his party\u2019s nomination, but polling shows him far ahead of all the others.<\/p>\n

Citing polling and special elections and local government elections since Trump took office, a team of Democratic strategists on Monday said Democrats are within striking distance of being able to win the governor\u2019s race, the U.S. Senate race, and the attorney general\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

Christian Ulvert, of EDGE Communications, and Michael Worley, of MDW communications, said no party affiliation\/independent voters, who are key to winning elections, have moved strongly toward Democrats.<\/p>\n

Donalds said he isn\u2019t concerned about the Democrats\u2019 assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre Democrats motivated? Yeah, because they got, you know, they, they really got beat down in the 24 elections. So they\u2019re motivated, but our voters love our state. They\u2019re going to be committed, they\u2019re going to turn out, and we\u2019re going to have a very robust ground campaign as well. We\u2019re going to be driving turnout, making sure that Florida remains Florida,\u201d Donalds said.<\/p>\n

Donalds was joined Monday by multiple Republican legislators, including state Reps. Chip LaMarca and Hillary Cassel of Broward, state Rep. Meg \u201cMAGA Meg\u201d Weinberger of Palm Beach County, state Sen. Bryan Avila and state Reps. David Borrero, Tom Fabricio, and Juan Carlos Porras of Miami-Dade County.<\/p>\n

Also present were former Boca Raton Mayor Scott Singer, who is running for Congress, and Michele Merrell, Broward\u2019s state Republican committeewoman.<\/p>\n

As he\u2019s done before, Donalds stayed long after the event ended, giving everyone in the crowd of 150 or so people time to speak with him or take a selfie.<\/p>\n

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