Ron DeSantis’ waning influence was exposed Monday when Florida Republicans rejected a special legislative session he called to address illegal immigration. The Florida legislature, which infamously operated at DeSantis’ behest in recent years,

The House and Senate started and quickly ended a special legislative session that DeSantis called and then immediately opened their own special session.

The Florida Legislature is meeting in special session this week — but only on the issue of illegal immigration. In doing so, legislative leaders are openly defying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attempts to bend lawmakers to his will – and his ability to control the discussion.

DeSantis called the special session on Jan. 13, declaring Florida faced an immigration crisis and needed to act swiftly to stem the flow of unauthorized immigrants coming to Florida. He also wanted to deal with condominium safety, hurricane relief, and ballot initiative reform.

Florida legislative leaders quickly gaveled out a special session called by Governor Ron DeSantis Monday morning just moments after it opened, announcing they would be gaveling in their own later that day.

State lawmakers rejected DeSantis' call for a special legislative session to discuss immigration, planning to deal with the topic on their programmed schedule.

Florida lawmakers on Monday quickly ended a special session called by Gov. Ron DeSantis and instead called their own session.