“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ likely presidential campaign is getting a major assist this week by Republican legislators who are moving quickly in a hastily called special session to help the governor,” Politico reports.

“GOP lawmakers are taking steps to undercut or nix legal challenges against some of DeSantis’ signature programs — and are helping him resolve a year-long feud with Disney that DeSantis has used to highlight his ongoing battle against ‘woke’ corporations.”

“It’s also a reminder that DeSantis has a ready partner in the GOP-controlled Florida Legislature to give him wins that can be used on the campaign trail should he jump into the race against former President Donald Trump later this year.”

“The Club for Growth, a conservative anti-tax group that spent nearly $150 million in the past two election cycles, has invited a half-dozen potential Republican presidential candidates to its annual donor retreat next month — but not Donald Trump,” the New York Times reports.

“In a meeting with reporters on Monday, David McIntosh, president of the group, said that Republican chances of winning back the White House next year would be diminished if Mr. Trump were once again at the top of the ticket and that he hoped to introduce Republican donors to other possibilities.”

Interestingly, CBS News reports a new poll commissioned by the Club for Growth shows Trump leading the GOP field of potential candidates with 37%, followed by Ron DeSantis at 33%, Mike Pence at 7% and Nikki Haley at 5%.

Peter Hamby: “Multiple GOP sources tell me that a pair of respected Republican consultants—Phil Cox, a veteran adviser to Republican governors with close connections with major donors, and Liesl Hickey, the former executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee—have been recruiting staffers for a super PAC that would support a DeSantis bid.”

“The governor has not made a decision on a campaign, but both Cox and Hickey are experienced, high-level strategists who helped steer DeSantis’s 2020 re-election bid and his attention-grabbing fights on education and Covid. They aren’t the kind of people who waste their days fighting with randos on Twitter—both were working in the trenches of Republican politics long before Trump came along—and their involvement in the possible super PAC is one of the strongest signals yet that DeSantis is moving toward a national campaign. I’m also told that Generra Peck, a Darden MBA with Virginia roots who now works for DeSantis in Tallahassee, has been making similar recruiting calls to Republican operatives about possibly working on an official campaign if DeSantis decides to take the plunge.”

Russell Berman: “The 2024 field has been frozen by an unusual pairing—a former president who still inspires fear and a sitting president still biding his time.”