In May, HHS handed the surgeon general's duties to Stephanie Haridopolos — a staffer the Senate never confirmed, and the wife of Rep. Mike Haridopolos, who six months earlier voted to let Floridians' insurance premiums spike.
Rutherford says constituents who want a town hall will 'scream and holler, and act like fools.' His Republican primary opponent, Mark Kaye, launched his campaign with this: 'In 10 years of service, this guy hasn't held a single town hall meeting.'
Police and Trooper Support PAC and Support America's Police PAC raised millions from retirees, spent most of it on their own phone banks, and recorded the biggest outside spending in Rutherford's FEC file. The same days, the same dollars were booked supporting a Democrat.
On the day the Iran war started, Rutherford's official House statement misspelled the operation's name three times and said the regime 'must be obliterated.' Within hours the page was silently renamed. Congress never voted on any of it.
Doctors in the room shouted that it was false. Bilirakis backed up the claim by pointing at a real board — one that was never appointed, never met, was legally barred from rationing care, and was abolished a year later. 'The board exists, OK?' he told CNN.
His Eliminate DEI in Colleges Act makes a school ineligible for every federal program — including federal student loans — unless it certifies it runs no DEI program and no DEI office. He's introduced it twice. He also voted against naming a Tallahassee courthouse for Florida's first Black Supreme Court justice.
On September 25, 2024, Bilirakis was one of 82 House members — all Republicans — to vote no on the bill that took FEMA's Disaster Relief Fund out of emergency rationing. Helene made landfall in Florida the following night. Five days later he published a guide telling constituents how to apply for FEMA money.
The 'Defending Freedom Fighters Trust Fund' would have put $5 million behind a Florida presidential candidate's legal defense, administered by the department Patronis ran. Even Ron DeSantis said no.
Simple Health sold sham health insurance to more than 400,000 people and took in more than $190 million. Its CEO is serving 25 years in federal prison. Florida's Chief Financial Officer took money from it and a related company three times — and kept taking it after a state attorney general issued a national fraud alert.