| Ron DeSantis (R) is Florida's governor, and lately he is rather happily taking on the task of being the face of the anti-mask movement now that former president Donald Trump is less visible. It's a showdown that might reap him lots of political attention on the right, but one that could be risky as cases spike in Florida and surrounding states. Here's what's happening: - DeSantis is opposed to mask mandates, but on Friday he issued a mandate of his own threatening to withhold state funds from any school district that requires students to wear masks.
 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is in a showdown with school districts over mask requirements. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images) | - Schools in Florida are about to open in person, and DeSantis argued that parents should get to choose whether their children wear masks, even though the federal government recommends students across the country wear them.
- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has arguably gone further on limiting mask use in his state by saying counties can't implement their own rules on masks. But DeSantis is getting so much attention because he jumped right into the culture wars over children who may be too young to get vaccinated.
 Will Hartley, 10, Lila Hartley, 12, and Gabby Waxman hold their signs in support of masking in schools Tuesday before a school board meeting in Jacksonville, Fla. (Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP) | - On Thursday, several major school districts in Florida said they're going to require masks anyway. So now DeSantis is in a position of having to decide whether to actually cut off funding to schools — not a popular thing for a governor to do ― or back down from a position that is earning him lots of attention on the right.
Oh and did we mention DeSantis is a potential GOP contender for the presidency in 2024? He has two very different constituencies to think about. Texas Democrats are going to have to make a decision about how much hardball they want to play on voting Remember when Texas Democrats fled their state under the cover of night to stop a Republican voting restrictions bill? As we talked about in this newsletter, they don't have a lot of options to stop the legislation other than hide out until the special session ends this week. Eventually they will have to return to their state, their jobs, their families. Or do they? Texas's governor just announced another special session will start this weekend to pass the voting restrictions. And now Democrats have to decide if they will return to the state or hide out for another 30 days to delay a vote on this bill for a third time. They came to Washington without a plan. And in the absence of help from Washington Democrats, these Texans may have to leave and admit defeat. Are prosecutors doing enough to deter another Capitol riot?  William Blauser, a Vietnam War veteran who lives in Pennsylvania, is one of hundreds who has been arrested following the insurrection. (Michael Kunzelman/AP) | That's a significant question being asked by those charged with punishing insurrectionists — the judges hearing cases and handing down sentences. "Does the government, in agreeing to the petty offense in this case, have any concern about deterrence?" a judge in Washington asked last week as she accepted a misdemeanor charge against someone who participated in the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, reports The Washington Post's Spencer Hsu. In other words: Are you sure this punishment is enough? More than half of defendants charged so far probably won't get any jail time because they're only charged with misdemeanors, reported Hsu and The Post's Tom Jackman back in May. 3 interesting numbers in politics right now Today, a few numbers jumped out in big political stories. Here they are and why they matter. 29 percent That's how many Republicans support an investigation into the insurrection, a new poll from the respected Quinnipiac University finds. That's in contrast with Republican lawmakers who, cheered on by a large majority of their base, spent years investigating the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya that killed Americans, points out The Fix's Aaron Blake. The political drivers behind Republicans' contradictory positions on these investigations are obvious. With Benghazi, Hillary Clinton was at the center of the investigation. When it comes to Jan. 6, their leader, Donald Trump, is the one being scrutinized. 4 votes That's the number of members of the liberal "Squad" led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) who have sometimes been a thorn in the side of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Pelosi accurately waved off their advocacy last year as: "They're four people, and that's how many votes they got" on showdowns against her. Suddenly, though, four votes matter. Democrats have such a slim margin over Republicans in the House that four Democratic defections is enough to sink anything Pelosi needs to pass with only Democratic votes, analyzes The Post's Paul Kane. What these liberal lawmakers put their feet down on is more and more important. $5,800 The cost of a Japanese bottle of whisky given to then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, recently revealed in federal records. When U.S. officials take expensive gifts, they're supposed to pay the value back to taxpayers, reports The Post's Olivier Knox in The Daily 202 newsletter. But the New York Times reports that the government didn't get the money back, and now the inspector general is looking into what happened. Pompeo said he has no idea what happened to the bottle. We wonder if his rocks glass knows. | 
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