Ron DeSantis spent years building toward this moment.
His patience just paid off in a massive way.
And the Florida Supreme Court just handed DeSantis the one victory that left woke activists fuming.
DeSantis Completes His Supreme Court Takeover
Ron DeSantis appointed Adam Tanenbaum to the Florida Supreme Court on January 14, cementing the governor’s complete transformation of the state’s highest court.
Tanenbaum became DeSantis’ sixth appointment to the seven-member court.
The governor now controls every seat except one — and that lone holdout, Justice Jorge Labarga, must retire by October 2027 when he turns 75.
https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/2011497662701584885?s=20
DeSantis made the announcement at Seminole High School in Pinellas County, where Tanenbaum graduated as valedictorian in 1989.
Tanenbaum pledged his loyalty to originalism, the judicial philosophy that says a law’s meaning is fixed at the time it was written and doesn’t change over time.
“Sometimes the circumstances require boldness to restore our jurisprudence to its historical roots,” Tanenbaum declared.
He made clear his vision for the court is “the same as the governor’s” — that Florida should be “a national leader” in originalist jurisprudence.
DeSantis praised Tanenbaum’s encyclopedic knowledge of Florida government and predicted he’ll “bat a thousand” on the high court.
Tanenbaum replaces Justice Charles Canady, who stepped down after 17 years to take a position at the University of Florida.
Democrats immediately recognized what just happened — DeSantis locked in conservative control of Florida’s highest court for the next two decades.
The Court Makes Its First Big Move
The very next day, DeSantis’ remade court handed him a stunning victory.
In a 5-1 decision, the Florida Supreme Court ended the state’s 34-year reliance on the American Bar Association as the sole accreditor of law schools.
DeSantis had spent the previous day at Tanenbaum’s appointment ceremony bashing the ABA as a “very, very partisan activist organization” that shouldn’t be the “arbiter of legal education.”
Attorney General James Uthmeier called the ABA “a captured, far-left organization” and accused it of discriminating against Catholics.
The court agreed with them.
“The Court is persuaded that it is not in Floridians’ best interest for the ABA to be the sole gatekeeper deciding which law schools’ graduates are eligible to sit for the state’s General Bar Examination,” the majority wrote.
Florida will now reach out to alternative accreditors, effective October 1.
DeSantis celebrated immediately.
“The (highly partisan) ABA should not be a gatekeeper for legal education or the legal profession,” he posted on X.
https://twitter.com/AGJamesUthmeier/status/2011849880461791656?s=20
The decision followed Texas making the same move just one week earlier.
Justice Jorge Labarga was the lone dissenter.
“Regrettably, under the guise of expanding the accrediting agencies for law schools in Florida, the majority has taken the extraordinary step of divesting the ABA of its three decades long status,” Labarga wrote.
The five justices in the majority were all appointed by DeSantis.
Tanenbaum’s Track Record Shows What’s Coming
Tanenbaum’s background reveals exactly why DeSantis picked him.
As a First District Court of Appeal judge since 2019, Tanenbaum co-authored a December 2023 decision siding with DeSantis on congressional redistricting.
The governor had pushed the Legislature to pass new maps that eliminated a North Florida district that for years elected Black representatives.
Tanenbaum’s decision backed DeSantis over objections that the maps violated Florida’s Constitution.
The Florida Supreme Court later upheld the maps on different grounds — but not before criticizing the appeals court for dismissing precedent.
That criticism didn’t bother DeSantis one bit.
“I think he’s done very well as a judge,” DeSantis said of Tanenbaum. “He’s written a lot of very important opinions.”
https://twitter.com/JasonWeidaFL/status/2011457890926616696?s=20
Tanenbaum also ruled in favor of DeSantis’ administration in 2021 when school districts insisted on strict face-masking policies during COVID-19.
The governor wanted parents to have the right to opt out for their children.
Tanenbaum sided with parental choice.
He’s a member of the Federalist Society, the powerful conservative organization that has reshaped the American judiciary.
DeSantis knows exactly what he’s getting.
DeSantis Just Locked In Florida For Decades
The transformation of Florida’s Supreme Court is DeSantis’ most consequential accomplishment as governor.
When he took office in January 2019, the court had a 4-3 liberal majority.
Now he’s appointed six of seven justices — and the seventh must retire before the next governor takes office.
The DeSantis court has already upheld laws expanding abortion restrictions, allowing non-unanimous jury recommendations for the death penalty, and approving the governor’s preferred redistricting maps.
It eliminated decades-old antibias training requirements for new judges and dissolved the Standing Committee on Fairness and Diversity.
And now it’s cutting ties with the woke ABA that conservatives have battled for years.
Most of his appointees won’t face mandatory retirement for nearly two decades.
That means DeSantis’ judicial philosophy will outlast him by a generation.
Florida Democrats are powerless to stop it.
Republicans have held Florida’s “trifecta” of power — governor and both legislative chambers — in every election from 1999 to 2019.
Voters gave Republicans a mandate.
DeSantis delivered what they wanted.
Trump is already calling for new congressional redistricting ahead of the 2026 midterms.
DeSantis scheduled a special session for April to redraw Florida’s districts.
Democrats are crying that it violates the Fair Districts Amendment, which bans partisan gerrymandering.
But the Florida Supreme Court already upheld DeSantis’ last redistricting map.
Why would they stop him now?
The court DeSantis built just eliminated the ABA’s monopoly over law school accreditation the day after he appointed his sixth justice.
They’re not going to suddenly rediscover concern for precedent and voter-approved amendments.
DeSantis spent six years methodically transforming Florida’s judiciary.
And there’s not a thing Democrats can do about it.
Sources:
- Associated Press, “DeSantis Picks New Florida Supreme Court Justice,” January 14, 2026.
- Kate Payne, “Before Ascending to Florida Supreme Court, Judge Backed DeSantis’ Redistricting Push,” The Tributary, January 15, 2026.
- Liv Caputo, “Florida Supreme Court Ends Three-Decade Reliance on ABA,” Florida Phoenix, January 15, 2026.
- Jim Rosica, “DeSantis Cements Conservative Majority on Florida Supreme Court,” Tallahassee Democrat, January 14, 2026.
- Mitch Perry, “DeSantis Appoints Adam Tanenbaum to the Florida Supreme Court,” Florida Phoenix, January 14, 2026.
