Rep. Mike Haridopolos, a freshman Florida Republican most people may not have heard of, helped engineer the primary ouster of fellow GOP Rep. Cory Mills — one of only four Republican incumbents to lose a primary in the 2026 midterms — and also secured billions more for NASA's budget after the Trump White House initially proposed slashing it by 24%. Haridopolos recruited former journalist Ryan Elijah to challenge Mills, showed up in the front row of the primary debate, and worked the spin room himself. He told Fox News Digital he went directly to House leadership and the president's team to warn that Mills would lose a general election, and when Mills refused to step aside, Haridopolos backed someone else — a move almost unheard of for a first-term congressman. On the space front, he convinced the administration to reverse course on a proposed cut to NASA from $24.4 billion down to $18.8 billion last year, and ultimately Trump signed a spending bill restoring most of that amount plus an additional $9.9 billion through the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman says Haridopolos "understands that so much of America's future in space runs through Florida and Kennedy Space Center." Story here: foxnews.com/politics/gop-ris…