Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday announced he is launching a “Florida DOGE” task force to audit several areas of Florida’s government.
The acronym comes from the Department of Government Efficiency, a temporary task force initiated by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk to audit the federal bureaucracy for wasteful spending.
During an appearance in Tampa, DeSantis hinted he plans on using Florida's version of DOGE to audit state agencies, universities and local governments to cut wasteful spending. The audit would last one year.
“For too long, nobody has cared about the taxpayers, much less the next generation, who is ultimately going to have to pay for all of the mismanagement that we have seen over these many, many years,” DeSantis said.
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The Republican governor said much of the attention would be on rooting out diversity equity and inclusion initiatives.
DeSantis said under the new state-led task force, all 12 of Florida’s public universities will be subject to an independent review and audit.
The goal is to look at how money is being spent, along with the courses and programming that is being offered to students.
DeSantis said as a result, some classes and majors that are considered to be “ideological” or not useful in terms of employment may be discontinued.
“There are certain subjects that, look if you want to do some of this, go to Cal Berkeley, go to some of these other places. We don't really want to be doing some of this stuff in Florida,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said that programs and departments that are supportive of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, will be cut.
Florida enacted a law in 2023 that made illigal for state universities and colleges to made it illegal in 2023 for the state’s universities and colleges to have DEI programs. However, DeSantis is convinced there are still hidden initiatves taking place.
“You can't simply say you're following our law to eliminate DEI by just simply recharacterizing it using different terms, you're still violating the law. And if we find that, we will absolutely hold you accountable,” said DeSantis.
Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. added: “It is a great time to review higher education spending with a fine-tooth comb, particularly when it comes to programs that do not contribute to students' future success in the job market.”
DeSantis also said more than 70 state boards and commissions along with some 1,700 state worker jobs could be cut. He also expects state-led audits of local municipalities and counties to begin.
The governor said that in order for these efforts to move forward, he will need to get the approval of the Legislature, but expects lawmakers to be supportive.
“We've examined the budgets, we've examined appointments, vacancies, the mission, trying to assess whether the mission still relevant, whether it overlaps with other boards or authorities, whether has been become obsolete over time, and there are some that actually serve their purpose,” he said.
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DeSantis said he’s putting the panel together but indicated that State Board of Administration Executive Director Chris Spencer and Florida Division of Bond Finance Director Ben Watkins will be involved.
In a statement, Nikki Fried, chair of the state's Democratic Party, derided the governor's DOGE plan, telling him to “don’t lecture us on wasting taxpayer dollars.”
"Ron DeSantis needs to shut his damn mouth," she said. "Republicans have been in total control of Florida’s government for nearly 30 years, and he wants to talk about government waste?”
Her criticism referenced DeSantis’ aggressive effort to defeat proposals last year that would have enshrined abortion and recreational marijuana in the state constitution, and recent state legislation to fight illegal immigration.
"Ron has consistently passed the largest state budgets in Florida's history, illegally spent millions of taxpayer dollars to run political campaigns to take down Amendments 3 and 4, and just allocated $250 million to fund his political stunt on immigration.”
Shortly after the announcement, DeSantis put out an executive order requiring each state agency to establish similar teams.
READ: The Governor's executive order here
He also said on social media that he'd be working with the Legislature to audit "the spending habits of local entities to shine the light on waste and bloat."
He contended that many local governments have “opted to increase their own budgets and even subject their citizens to higher taxes, such as higher property taxes, to pay for these spending habits.”
Republican lawmakers have already proposed bills (HB 305/SB 448) for the upcoming session that would require a closer look at state rules and regulations.
Jared Nordlund, Florida state director of UnidosUS, which says it is the largest Latino civil-rights organization in the country, described the plan as “political theater.”
"Florida faces real, urgent problems to solve --- families struggling with the highest rise in the cost of living in the country, high school students unable to read at an 8th grade level, a fifth of seniors experiencing homelessness, red tide polluting our beaches, and policies that are increasingly hostile to communities of color and working people,” Nordlund said in a statement.
“Yet, instead of addressing these urgent issues, the governor is laser-focused on cutting ‘bloat’ from a bureaucracy he and his own party built, mismanaged and weaponized against Floridians.”
Information from WUSF's Kiley Petracek, WFSU’s Tristen Wood and News Service of Florida’s Jim Turner was used in this report.
