Dive Brief:
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants a state-level version of the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency that would, among other things, scrutinize spending, staff and curriculum at Florida colleges and universities.
- DeSantis created Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency, or Florida DOGE, via executive order Tuesday, saying in a press conference he wants the state to be as “lean and as efficient as possible.”
- The order directs Florida DOGE to work with state education officials to “eliminate unnecessary spending, programs, courses, staff, and any other inefficiencies within the State University System and the Florida College System.” The systems oversee 12 universities and 28 colleges, respectively.
Dive Insight:
President Donald Trump created DOGE via executive order on the first day of his second term. Since then, DOGE has pushed out thousands of federal workers, canceled contracts and accessed a wide array of data within the federal government.
Workers, students and now federal courts have pushed back on DOGE’s aggressive tactics. A recent court order has temporarily barred DOGE from accessing sensitive data held by the U.S. Department of Education, as well as personal information housed in the Office of Personnel Management. Another paused its access to the U.S. Department of Treasury’s systems.
DOGE’s operations are often unclear to the public, and at least one plaintiff group has pressed in court for more details of the department’s doings.
Against that backdrop, DeSantis, who failed in his bid for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, wants his own version of the Musk-led entity.
“I say we were DOGE before DOGE was cool,” DeSantis said at a press conference Tuesday announcing Florida DOGE.
Along with a central DOGE team under the governor’s office, DeSantis directed each state agency to create their own DOGE offices. In unveiling the new efficiency push, DeSantis highlighted higher ed as a target for Florida DOGE.
“We will conduct a deep dive of all facets of university operations and spending, including debt and financial management practices, and make recommendations to the Board of Governors to consider and implement pathways to eliminate any unnecessary spending,” Desantis said.
During the press conference, DeSantis signaled that Florida DOGE will review and potentially seek to block certain curriculum and content at the state’s higher education institutions.
“There are certain subjects that, you know, look, if you want to do some of this — go to Cal Berkeley, go to some of these other places, we don’t really want to be doing some of this stuff in Florida,” the governor said. “We want to do the core, important subjects.”
Elaborating, he added, “Some of the ideological studies stuff, we just want to prune that and get that out.”
Florida lawmakers have moved previously to limit what can be taught in certain college classes. A law passed in 2023 barred from its state general education curriculum the teaching of “identity politics” or that “is based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a lawsuit over the legislation earlier this year, arguing that it violates academic freedom.
