Governors and lawmakers in 11 red states have created their own special DOGE-style task forces to cut waste.
Special task forces have been created in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.
For example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has set up a “DOGE task force” that will audit government spending, look for ways to cut bureaucracy and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) programs.
“I am requiring state agencies to utilize AI [artificial intelligence] 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 said on X.
The new Florida task force will need legislative approval to make its audits binding.
In Kansas, a “”Committee on Government Efficiency” has been created which includes a website portal where residents can make cost-saving suggestions.
Elon Musk has boasted of “feeding USAID into the wood chipper” as part of his Department of Government Efficiency’s aim to cut $2 trillion of government spending within two years.
In the first month of Trump’s second term, DOGE have reported cost savings of $55 billion as a result of canceled grants, sales of assets, firings, and terminations of leases and contracts.
Musk has emphasized the need for DOGE to act quickly and cut deep, because America’s growing national debt is becoming unserviceable.
“We either solve the deficit, or all we’ll be doing is paying debt,” he said in a recent interview with Fox News.
“It’s got to be solved, or there’s no medical care, there’s no Social Security, there’s no nothing. It’s got to be solved. “It’s not optional,” Musk said. “America will go bankrupt if this is not done.
President Trump has urged Musk to get “more aggressive” in his cuts.
“Elon is doing a great job, but I would like to see him get more aggressive,” Trump wrote last week on his social-media site, Truth Social.
“Remember, we have a country to save, but ultimately, to make greater than ever before. MAGA!”
The billionaire Tesla CEO was quick to respond in the affirmative: “Will do, Mr President,” he wrote on X.