President Trump is racing to reshape the federal judiciary with conservative judges.
But a major scandal in Florida just threw a wrench into those plans.
And one Trump judicial nominee got indefinitely blocked after a Florida corruption probe exposed his biggest problem.
DeSantis Medicaid Scandal Creates Collateral Damage
President Trump nominated John Guard to serve as a federal judge in Florida’s Middle District back in June.¹
Guard spent six years as Florida’s Chief Deputy Attorney General under Ashley Moody, building a resume that should have made confirmation straightforward.²
But sources with direct knowledge tell Axios the White House hit the brakes on Guard’s nomination the moment a criminal investigation was announced.³
The problem isn’t what Guard did – it’s what he signed.⁴
The $10 Million Money Laundering Scheme
Here’s what really happened behind closed doors in Tallahassee.
Florida negotiated a $67 million settlement with Centene, a Medicaid contractor that had been overbilling the state for prescription drugs.⁵
But instead of sending all that money back to state coffers where it belonged, the DeSantis administration got creative.⁶
They restructured the deal to send $57 million to Florida and $10 million directly to Hope Florida Foundation – the charity run by Governor Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey.⁷
Guard signed that settlement agreement on behalf of the state, though emails obtained by The Miami Herald show he privately raised concerns about the arrangement.⁸
The money didn’t stop at Hope Florida.
Within weeks, the foundation sent the full $10 million to two "dark money" political groups.⁹
Those groups then funneled $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee created to defeat a marijuana legalization ballot measure.¹⁰
The PAC was run by James Uthmeier, who was DeSantis’ chief of staff at the time and is now Florida’s Attorney General.¹¹
Florida House Republicans call it "conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud."¹²
Last week, the state attorney in Tallahassee convened a grand jury to investigate, and Guard was hit with a subpoena.¹³
Trump White House Pumps the Brakes
The White House paused Guard’s nomination indefinitely the moment that subpoena landed, sources tell Axios.¹⁴
"The White House doesn’t have any reason to really believe that John broke the law, but it doesn’t want a nasty confirmation fight about this until it all gets cleared up," a source with direct knowledge explained.¹⁵
https://twitter.com/PollTracker2024/status/1980452904218607979
Translation: Guard might be innocent, but Democrats would turn his confirmation hearing into a circus about the DeSantis scandal.
Trump needs to fill judicial seats quickly to cement his agenda, but defending someone under active criminal investigation isn’t worth the political capital.
Florida state Representative Alex Andrade, who led the House investigation, says Guard raised red flags internally but didn’t push hard enough.¹⁶
"John raised red flags but didn’t push further," Andrade told reporters. "I assume it was a go-along-get along situation."¹⁷
That creates a tricky legal position for Guard.
Signing a settlement you privately opposed shows you recognized problems – but executing it anyway opens questions about whether you had a duty to refuse.
Prosecutors will decide if those warning emails are evidence Guard tried to stop it or evidence he knew it was illegal and did it anyway.
The Blue Slip War Making Everything Worse
The nomination hit another roadblock that has nothing to do with Hope Florida.
Senator Rick Scott refused to submit his "blue slip" for Guard’s nomination – the procedural approval needed from home-state senators before the Senate Judiciary Committee can hold a confirmation hearing.¹⁸
"There [are] some questions now about his [Guard’s] involvement in Hope Florida," Scott said back in May. "I think we need to get to the bottom of that."¹⁹
That decision infuriated Scott’s fellow Florida Republican Senator Ashley Moody, who worked with Guard for years when she was Florida Attorney General.²⁰
https://twitter.com/MTPerry_Powell/status/1928567573991297390
Moody wanted her former deputy confirmed, so she retaliated by refusing to return a blue slip for Jack Heekin – Scott’s former general counsel who Trump nominated as U.S. Attorney for Florida’s Northern District.²¹
The White House had to step in and tell Moody to stand down on Heekin while they paused Guard’s nomination.²²
Heekin got confirmed and sworn in back in June, but Guard remains in limbo.²³
The blue slip standoff exposes how petty Republican infighting is gumming up Trump’s judicial agenda.
Scott and DeSantis have had a strained relationship for years – Scott preceded DeSantis as governor, and the two have clashed repeatedly over political turf.²⁴
Now their feud is costing Trump a judicial seat he needs to fill.
Trump Backed DeSantis’ Chief of Staff Despite Scandal
The timing of Trump’s moves tells you what he really thinks about the Hope Florida investigation.
Trump endorsed Uthmeier – DeSantis’ former chief of staff who allegedly orchestrated the entire money laundering scheme – to become Florida Attorney General.²⁵
That endorsement came AFTER the scandal broke and Uthmeier was publicly accused of directing Medicaid settlement money to his own political committee.²⁶
Uthmeier denies wrongdoing and claims he wasn’t involved in settlement negotiations.²⁷
"James wasn’t involved in the 2024 settlement negotiations and had no part dictating the settlement terms," his spokesman told reporters.²⁸
But Florida House investigators found emails showing Uthmeier initiated the plan to divert settlement money to groups campaigning against marijuana legalization.²⁹
Trump doesn’t care.
He endorsed Uthmeier anyway because the President understands politics comes first.
The Trump administration will defend its people when it makes strategic sense – but Guard’s nomination became radioactive the moment that grand jury got empaneled.
What Comes Next For Guard
Sources say Guard will probably still get confirmed if the investigation wraps up quickly and clears him.³⁰
"Guard is still qualified and the White House wants to fill this spot," one source explained.³¹
The seat in Florida’s Middle District has been open since Trump took office, and the President needs every judicial appointment he can get to reshape the courts.
But Trump won’t move forward while a grand jury is actively investigating.
That’s smart politics – why hand Democrats ammunition for a confirmation hearing when you can just wait it out?
DeSantis, meanwhile, keeps insisting the donation to Hope Florida was the "cherry on top" of a great settlement deal for Florida.³²
Never mind that the state could have kept the full $67 million instead of routing $10 million through his wife’s charity into political campaigns.
Republican House Speaker Daniel Perez and Representative Andrade call the arrangement "creative" but potentially illegal.³³
"This was Medicaid money that was squandered, plain and simple," Andrade told The Tampa Bay Times.³⁴
Federal investigators will make the final call on whether anyone faces charges.
For now, Guard sits in limbo while DeSantis’ corruption scandal blocks Trump’s judicial transformation of the federal courts.
¹ Marc Caputo, "Exclusive: Trump judicial nominee ‘indefinitely’ stalled by criminal probe," Axios, October 21, 2025.
² – ¹¹ Ibid.
¹² "Florida Chamber ensnared again in dark money controversy," WGCU PBS & NPR for Southwest Florida, May 5, 2025.
¹³ Marc Caputo, "Exclusive: Trump judicial nominee ‘indefinitely’ stalled by criminal probe," Axios, October 21, 2025.
¹⁴ – ²⁶ Ibid.
²⁷ "Florida had a $67 million settlement, then moved to help Hope Florida," Orlando Sentinel, May 19, 2025.
²⁸ Ibid.
²⁹ "A developing political scandal in Florida has Gov. Ron DeSantis on the defensive," NPR, April 24, 2025.
³⁰ Marc Caputo, "Exclusive: Trump judicial nominee ‘indefinitely’ stalled by criminal probe," Axios, October 21, 2025.
³¹ Ibid.
³² "Florida had a $67 million settlement, then moved to help Hope Florida," Orlando Sentinel, May 19, 2025.
³³ Ibid.
³⁴ Ibid.
