Steven Lemongello and Skyler Swisher
Orlando Sentinel (TNS)
ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to create a Florida version of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) that would conduct sweeping audits of universities, counties, and cities and eliminate more than 70 state boards and commissions.
DeSantis said Monday he is launching a state “DOGE task force” that aims to use artificial intelligence to streamline government and “eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy.”
He proposed eliminating about 740 state jobs, while adding staff to other agencies in need of more people, such as the Department of Corrections. He didn’t name the boards and commissions he wants to abolish but said they are “redundant entities.”
The program would sunset after one year, he said.
“This is the DOGE-ing of our state university system, and I think it’s going to be good for taxpayers. and it’s ultimately going to be good for students as well,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tampa. He also said he wants to “do a DOGE on some of these local governments.”
Critics said the new Florida program will lead to turmoil and result in the dismantling of essential programs.
DeSantis said he doesn’t think Florida’s government is as bloated as the federal government, adding that his administration had already been “DOGE before DOGE was cool.”
Using artificial intelligence, Florida’s DOGE task force “can show up in a county, and they can audit and they can use AI to be able to do some of the things that we’re seeing at the federal level,” DeSantis said.
The task force would conduct a deep dive of all facets of university operations and spending, including debt and financial management practices, including “examining courses, programming and staff,” he added.
“Some of the ideological study stuff, we just want to prune that and get that out,” he said. “We want to make sure that these universities are really serving the classical mission of what a university should be, and that’s not to impose ideology. It’s really to teach students how to think and to prepare them to be citizens of our republic.”
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©2025 Orlando Sentinel. Visit at orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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