Social Security hearing office in Melbourne to close.
A Social Security office in Brevard County that handles appeals for those seeking benefits is slated for closure amid federal spending cuts. The Dairy Road office will close May 16th. A spokesperson for Rep. Mike Haridopolos, the Republican who represents Brevard County in the U.S. House, says there will be no impact to services as a result of the closure. Two other Social Security offices in Brevard County — in Melbourne and in Cocoa — remain open and are not on the DOGE list of closures.
DeSantis flies to Idaho and Montana.
If you were looking for Gov. DeSantis yesterday you wouldn’t find him in Tallahassee. The Governor was in Idaho and Montana. He flew from Florida on a state plane. His official reason for the travel is to lobby with other governors, but critics say DeSantis is wasting taxpayer money. They say he is trying to raise his national profile in advance of another run for President. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Florida is “returning” unspent money.
Gov. DeSantis says Florida is ‘returning’ unspent federal money in an effort to show DOGE support. DeSantis says he recently returned nearly $1 billion in federal funds. But the money in question was either turned down previously, or never requested. Critics say the money would have helped Floridians reduce exhaust emissions from cars and trucks, and help legal refugees resettle in Florida. 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.
Majority of Floridians support DeSantis and Trump.
President Trump and Gov. DeSantis both enjoy high approval ratings with Florida voters. A new Mason-Dixon public opinion survey conducted earlier this month shows that 52% of the public approves of Trump’s job performance, with 44% disapproving. Likewise, the survey shows that 53% of Floridians approve of the governor’s performance, while 42% disapprove. The poll also shows that Trump's choice for next Florida governor, U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, has a 48% approval rate. First Lady Casey DeSantis, who appears to be the governor's choice of successors, has a higher favorable rating with 53% approval.
Will Starliner ever fly astronauts again?
Now that Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams have safely returned on the SpaceX Dragon, you many wonder what's next for the Boeing troubled Starliner's capsule. NASA is still planning on using Boeing's Starliner spacecraft for future missions to the ISS. Boeing is working on the thruster issues that plagued Starliner. NASA emphasizes the importance of having two commercial spacecraft providers for redundancy, SpaceX and Boeing.
Carolyn Marks wins in Portugal.
Brevard surfer Carolyn Marks won the Rip Curl Pro surfing competition in Portugal. The former Melbourne Beach resident is now ranked third in the World Surf League championship tour. The tour now heads to El Salvador where Marks has won the past two years.
