Florida Department of Government Efficiency
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | February 24, 2025 |
| Type | State agency |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Florida |
| Headquarters | Tallahassee, Florida, U.S. |
| Parent agency | Florida Cabinet |
The Florida Department of Government Efficiency, commonly known as Florida DOGE, is a task-force of Florida. Based in the state's capital, Tallahassee, the agency is tasked with eliminating waste within the state government and ensuring accountability in Florida.[1][2]
Its creation has drawn bi-partisan criticism from the Florida Legislature, including House speaker Daniel Perez.[3][4]
In response to the creation of Florida DOGE, multiple Florida counties have established county-level equivalents.[5][6][7][8]
Membership
Florida DOGE members will serve a one-year term, appointed by the governor.[1] Eric Soskin was appointed on as lead member of the task force.[9]
History
On February 24, 2025, the department was established by Governor Ron DeSantis via executive order.[10] Florida DOGE is tasked with reducing bureaucracy, audit local governments and universities, and reimbursing the unused federal dollars allocated to Florida.
During the year of 2025, Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia conducted multiple public press conferences in the many counties and municipalities of target highlighted by DOGE. These presentations ended with showcasing a number amount of "excess waste spending" done under the press conferences target. Many municipalities and counties under "investigation" criticized these press conferences as inaccurate and misrepresenting of their current and proposed budget. Many claiming that their budget must already comply with existing regulations imposed by the state to prevent fraud. Other claims the calculations done are wrong by the agency are wrong. Most arguments by the agency were based upon an assumption of a spike to spending by governments that exceed inflation and population rates.
The department was to publish a report to the Florida Legislature & Florida CFO by January 13, 2026, but was delayed with no reason given.[11] On January 28, 2026, it's delayed report was published and repeated previous claims made through press conferences by Blaise Ingoglia from the previous year on 13 counties & municipalities in the state. No fraud or criminal misconduct was found in the report, but criticism of spending choices and practices were highlighted.
The task force is set to disband & lose authority on July 1, 2026 [12]
References
- ^ a b "Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Florida DOGE Efforts". flgov.com. February 24, 2025. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ @DOGEFla (April 3, 2025). "Florida was DOGE before DOGE was cool" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ^ Fineout, Gary (March 12, 2025). "Florida Republicans turn on DeSantis administration in DOGE-like quest to cut spending". Politico. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Reed, Betsy (March 7, 2025). "Radical DeSantis plan for Doge-style cuts in Florida opposed by own party". The Guardian. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Reyes, Yacob (April 1, 2025). "Hillsborough resolution would welcome Florida DOGE to examine county's books". Axios. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Maggiore, Sabrina (March 22, 2025). "Newly formed Florida DOGE team requests city and county help in assessing financial health". WFTV. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Clegg, Emmaleigh (April 1, 2025). "Bay County becomes first in Florida to implement DOGE audits". WJHG-TV. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ @GovRonDeSantis (April 5, 2025). "Follow @DOGEFla for updates on our efforts" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
- ^ Schweers, Jeffrey (March 28, 2025). "DeSantis chooses fired DOT inspector general to lead Florida's DOGE team". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 2, 2026.
- ^ Goñi-Lessan, Ana (February 24, 2025). "Gov. DeSantis establishes Florida version of DOGE, will cut positions, audit universities". Tallahassee Democrat. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
- ^ Lawrence, Mower; Garrett, Shanley (January 21, 2026). "DeSantis' DOGE team misses deadline for report to lawmakers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 1, 2026.
- ^ Lawrence, Mower; Garrett, Shanley (January 29, 2026). "DeSantis' DOGE finds 'wasteful' spending but no fraud". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 1, 2026.