Darren Soto

Rep. Soto hosted a public tele-town hall on March 12, 2025, focused on opposing Medicare and Social Security cuts, demonstrating active constituent engagement. His official House page explicitly commits to fighting to protect Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid for seniors and persons with disabilities. The most significant legislative development on this issue occurred on July 3–4, 2025: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1/OBBBA) passed the House 218–214 along party lines and was signed by President Trump on July 4, 2025. The OBBBA made major cuts to Medicaid and Medicare safety-net programs, accelerated Medicare's Hospital Insurance trust fund insolvency from 2036 to 2030, and is projected by CBO to cause 11.8 million people to lose health coverage by 2034. Soto, as a House Democrat in the minority, voted against the bill in keeping with his commitment. While Soto has actively and publicly opposed these cuts through outreach events, floor opposition, and committee work on the Energy and Commerce Committee, he was unable to prevent passage as part of the minority, making his promise partially fulfilled and partially blocked by political circumstances.

Rep. Soto publicly declared opposition to mid-decade redistricting in Florida throughout 2025, warning it would target Democratic incumbents. On January 7, 2026, Gov. DeSantis called a special legislative session on congressional redistricting. On April 27, 2026, DeSantis proposed a 24–4 congressional map specifically targeting Soto's CD-9 among four Democratic seats. Soto publicly condemned the map on April 28, 2026, stating it 'declares war on Central Florida and 1.3 million Puerto Ricans in Florida' and that it 'destroys Central Florida's congressional delegation.' The Florida Legislature passed the map on April 29, 2026 (House 83–28, Senate 21–17), and DeSantis signed it into law on May 4, 2026. Under the new map, Soto's seat is effectively abolished and the Puerto Rican community in Central Florida is split across multiple Republican-leaning districts. A lawsuit challenging the map was filed May 4, 2026, alleging violation of Florida's Fair Districts Amendment. As of May 25, 2026, that litigation is ongoing, but the redistricting Soto pledged to fight has been enacted over his objection.

Rep. Soto earned the Planned Parenthood Action Fund endorsement for his 2024 reelection and won a fifth term in November 2024. In the 119th Congress (2025–2026), his official House page documents his cosponsorship of the Women's Health Protection Act — which would codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law — and the Ensuring Women's Right to Reproductive Freedom Act, protecting the right to travel between states for reproductive care. He also cosponsored H.J.Res.144 (introduced January 27, 2026), which provides for congressional disapproval of a VA rule restricting Reproductive Health Services. Soto serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over health policy, and is a member of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus. As a member of the House minority, no reproductive rights legislation he has backed has advanced to enactment in the 119th Congress.

Soto secured the Brady United endorsement for his 2024 reelection and returned to Congress for a fifth term. In the 119th Congress, he cosponsored H.R.3115, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2025, on September 10, 2025, which would prohibit the sale, manufacture, transfer, and importation of semiautomatic assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines. He also cosponsored the Gun Violence Prevention Research Act of 2025 (H.R.4821), which would authorize CDC funding for firearms safety research — a ban on such research had been in place since 1996. Both bills have been referred to committee with no floor votes scheduled as of May 2026. Soto's gun safety record in the 119th Congress reflects consistent minority-party cosponsorship on major legislation without enactment, consistent with his status as a House Democrat in a Republican-majority chamber.

Rep. Soto has taken multiple documented, concrete steps to defend immigrant due process and protect Central Florida's Venezuelan community. On January 31, 2025, he held a public press event in Kissimmee condemning the Trump administration's revocation of Venezuelan Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which affected over 500,000 Venezuelans nationwide. On May 8, 2025, he introduced H.R.3310, the Venezuela TPS Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill co-sponsored with Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) to designate Venezuela for TPS. On February 6, 2026, Soto and Rep. Maxwell Frost sent a formal letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons strongly opposing the opening of a new ICE detention center in Central Florida. On February 24, 2026, he used his SOTU guest invitation to highlight a Venezuelan constituent unlawfully detained without criminal or immigration charges. On March 19, 2026, Soto filed a discharge petition to force a House floor vote on H.R.3310, with 30 Members signed on. As of May 25, 2026, the TPS legislation has not been enacted, but Soto's legislative, constituent, and public advocacy record on this issue is among the most active of any member in the 119th Congress.