Florida DOGE will serve under a one-year term, DeSantis says

DORAL, FL – Florida DOGE, announced on Monday, Feb. 24, is now effective and will expire March 31, 2026, according to Executive Order 25-44 signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. 

“Florida was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” a graphic posted by the governor on X, formerly known as Twitter, read.

The Florida State Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) task force is the state version of the initiative created under Donald’s Trump second administration and headed by Elon Musk, who DeSantis praised, to reduce federal spending. 

“I think it’s really good. I think taxpayers need to have a seat at the table in Washington and for too long, nobody has cared about the taxpayers and the next generation that is ultimately going to have to pay for this mismanagement that we have seen over these many years,” DeSantis said at a news conference held on Tampa.

Under the federal DOGE, Elon Musk has already ordered the layoffs of thousands of IRS, social security, and other federal workers, including employees at national parks and wildlife refuges, and now Florida will follow his lead, focusing not only in cutting down the work force, but any spending deemed as unnecessary by the state. 

It will “work to further eliminate waste with state government, save taxpayers money and ensure accountability in Florida,” DeSantis said. “Florida has set the standard for fiscally conservative governance, and we will work with our new DOGE task force to do even more to serve the people of Florida with responsible stewardship of tax dollars.”

To make this possible, Ron DeSantis outlined several requirements in his executive order, including recommending legislative reforms to promote efficiency, maximize productivity, and eliminate waste in state and local government directed to the governor, chief financial officer, president of the Senate and speaker of the House to be turned in no later than Sept. 30.

Also, each state agency must establish a DOGE team that will be in charge of utilizing advanced technology, such as artificial intelligence, aimed at identifying and eliminating unnecessary spending, whether is in programs or contracts within the agency, while reporting progress on these issues to the governor’s DOGE team every month. 

“In particular, I am requiring state agencies to utilize AI as a way to supplement our ongoing efforts to produce streamlined and cost-effective government. Federal DOGE efforts have demonstrated the power of cutting-edge technology, and I look forward to Florida’s DOGE task force doing even more for taxpayers,” DeSantis posted on X.

According to a state press release, in sum, the task force in question will focus in five goals: eliminating bureaucracy, reviewing colleges and universities, further examining state agencies, auditing local governments and returning unused and surplus federal dollars.

Through Florida DOGE, the governor will set to eliminate 70 state boards and abolish commissions, cut 900 positions, and require universities to undergo independent reviews and audits to “deep dive” into all facets of college and university operations and spending and make recommendations to the Board of Governors and State Board of Education to eliminate any wasteful spending.

In addition, the initiative will clear the path to look into local government expenditures by utilizing publicly available county and municipal spending records to expose bloat with local governance.