Trickle-down DOGE: Republican states embrace Musk-style cuts
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Elon Musk holds a chainsaw reading "Long live freedom, damn it" during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on Feb. 20. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Republicans across the country have launched initiatives mirroring the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency to root out so-called "waste" and "fraud" within state budgets.
Why it matters: While they cheer Elon Musk's chainsaw, some of those same officials worry how those deep cuts at the federal level will affect their states, which take in more federal money than they send to Washington.
- Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, who established DOGE-OK via executive order last month, acknowledged that reality to Politico, noting that as DOGE is "trying to cut $2 trillion out of the federal spending … a lot of money from the feds goes to the states."
- He suggested state officials can help guide DOGE when considering state aid.
Driving the news: Stitt is not alone as the DOGE drive trickles down to the state level.
- Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry's DOGE-like initiative preceded Trump's inauguration by creating a "Fiscal Responsibility Program" in December with the goal of downsizing the state budget.
- New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte's first executive order established a Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE), "to streamline government, cut spending, and ensure we're doing everything we can to create value for taxpayers."
- In North Carolina, lawmakers formed an "interim House 'Select Committee on Government Efficiency,'" which is authorized to "look at DEI policies, excess state property, and other potential wastes of taxpayer dollars."
- Georgia's Senate recently passed a bill likened to a "state-level DOGE" backed by Lt. Governor Burt Jones to curb regulatory burdens.
- And in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a Florida DOGE task force, with university spending a prime target.
Yes, but: The Trump administration's slash-and-burn style of budget busting worries some GOP lawmakers.
- "If you're making [final] decisions without involving local representatives, you're making a mistake," House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters when discussing cuts to a key National Weather Service facility in his district.
- Landry and other Louisiana officials asked the Office of Management and Budget "to develop a responsible runway to untangle us from any unnecessary and egregious policies without jeopardizing the financial stability of the state."
- Several lawmakers have pressed the administration to act with "compassion" and treat the federal workforce "with dignity" as mass federal layoffs take a toll far beyond D.C.
State of play: States' initiatives so far have not echoed the dramatic disruptions Trump and Musk's DOGE triggered.
- Layoffs have hit thousands of employees across the government, from NOAA to National Parks to the IRS, as the administration guts federal agencies and slashes contracts deemed wasteful.
Reality check: To make the vast $2 trillion reduction Elon Musk has floated, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and defense cuts would mathematically be a likely necessity.
- And how the federal government does its math — considering tax and spending cuts — could shake up state-level budgets.
Go deeper: Trump stares down early economic potholes
