we began to hear that a number of states, which were led by Republicans, were also starting programs with the acronym DOGE or a variation like COGE (Committee on Government Efficiency) attached, including Florida, Oklahoma, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri and others.
But the power of rhyme aside, in many instances these have been a different exercise than that which was once led by Elon Musk at the federal level. For one thing, while many of the state efforts were created by legislation or executive order, the federal version was essentially an advisory body, free-wheeling in its approach, but with no internal mechanism for making sure its recommendations turned into actions — even though a number of them accomplished just that, reflected by the number of federal workers who lost their jobs.
In fact, it turns out that many of these state-level DOGE efforts are more similar to old-fashioned streamlining initiatives — the best of which save dollars while ensuring that the level of service is maintained or improved.
Over the course of years, we’ve tried to point to streamlining efforts as much as possible, regardless of the party affiliation of the state leaders involved. But picking up on the DOGE name does a disservice, we believe, to this good work.
While there may be some states that genuinely want to follow in the footsteps of the federal DOGE efforts, we haven’t come across any that are genuinely inclined to following the federal model, such as it is.
As our friends and colleagues Don Kettl and Phil Joyce recently pointed out, “At first, Musk promised to find $2 trillion in savings. Then the pledge dropped to $1 trillion. Then he struggled to document any savings at all.”
The states can be — and are — doing much better than that.
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