MIAMI - While the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and Elon Musk have been the talk of the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the State of Florida has already been putting ideas in place to reduce wasteful spending.
"Florida Laura [Ingraham] we are very lean. We were kinda DOGE before DOGE was cool," Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday night on The Ingraham Angle. "If we can bring any of that to Washington and Congress can actually enact some of the things that Elon is about and the president talking about, that's gonna be a huge win for the American people."
Back in November, newly sworn-in Florida Speaker of the House Danny "Daniel" Perez shared a similar DOGE goal at the state level, and appeared to take a political jab at Governor DeSantis.
“I think everything has to have a deep dive. It doesn't matter what part of the budget you're in. We were at $82 billion when I entered the legislature— that was only seven years ago this was not a long time ago,” Speaker Perez said at the time. “We have gotten close to $40 billion since then —that's a huge increase.”
Perez also warned that all state government agencies that ballooned under the DeSantis administration would "be held accountable."
Elon Musk has placed a similar message on federal workers. The world's wealthiest man and President Trump advocate has often called federal bureaucracy an "unelected" fourth branch of government.
“Everyone has to be held accountable. We have to have transparency. Where is the dollar being used? Why is it being used, and how is it being used across the board when we're looking into the budget-cutting state government,” Perez added.
Recently, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced his budget plans for Fiscal Year 2025-2026 which calls for a "Focus on Fiscal Responsibility."
“Florida’s steadfast commitment to fiscal conservatism is why we are in such good financial shape,” DeSantis said.
President Trump tapped Musk to cut wasteful and fraudulent spending and reduce excessive regulations under DOGE. The plans have often come to the ire of national Democrats, who in particular view Musk as an unelected oligarch.
According to the Department of Government Efficiency Live Tracker, the organization has already saved nearly $38 billion through 51 initiatives. The cuts have also saved taxpayers approximately $250.
