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The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, announced the creation of the Florida State Government Efficiency Department (DOGE, for its acronym in English), an initiative aimed at reducing unnecessary spending, modernizing state management, and ensuring accountability in the use of public resources.
The program aligns with President Donald Trump's efforts at the federal level, where Elon Musk leads a department with the same name and similar objectives, having been appointed by the Republican and supported in the position by Vivek Ramaswamy, another billionaire holding key positions in the current administration.
A model inspired by Trump's strategy
DeSantis's announcement comes against a backdrop where Trump has launched an aggressive plan to reduce bureaucracy and optimize federal spending.
In November 2024, the president appointed Elon Musk to lead the DOGE program in Washington, assigning him the task of reviewing the budgets of key agencies, eliminating unnecessary regulations, and applying artificial intelligence technology to identify inefficiencies.
Under his leadership, Musk has implemented severe budget cuts, including a reduction of $900 million in the Department of Education.
Additionally, it has imposed strict transparency standards in public administration, requiring federal employees to submit weekly reports on their work achievements. Those who do not comply may be regarded as having resigned.
Now, with the creation of a state DOGE, Florida reinforces its commitment to fiscal discipline and adopts measures similar to those implemented at the federal level.
Objectives of the DOGE program in Florida
According to DeSantis as explained in an official statement, Florida's DOGE program will have a one-year mandate and will focus on:
- Eliminate bureaucracy: Seventy state boards and commissions deemed redundant will be eliminated.
- Audits of public universities and colleges: The finances of all state educational institutions will be reviewed to eliminate unnecessary expenses and optimize their management.
- Supervision of state agencies: Artificial intelligence will be used to identify waste and detect irregularities in the operation of government institutions.
- Review of spending in local governments: A special team will evaluate municipal and county budgets to identify patterns of artificial inflation and optimize the use of public resources.
- Return of unused federal funds: Florida will forfeit federal dollars that are not required, aligning with the efficiency strategy promoted by Trump and Musk.
A state with low bureaucracy and high savings
Since taking office in 2019, DeSantis has worked to reduce the size of state government and improve the efficiency of public spending.
Florida has the lowest number of government employees per capita in the U.S., yet it still provides services at lower costs than other states of similar size. In the past year, the state saved $3.5 billion, reduced its debt by 41%, and accumulated $9.4 billion in its emergency fund.
With this initiative, Florida strengthens its stance as a bastion of fiscal conservatism and positions itself at the forefront of public spending reduction in the United States.
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