Gov. Ron DeSantis is proposing to create in Florida a version of Elon Musk’s controversial Department of Government Efficiency, which would perform sweeping audits of colleges, counties and municipalities and eliminate over 70 state boards and commissioners.

DeSantis announced Monday that he will launch a “DOGE taskforce” to use artificial intelligence in order to streamline the government and “eliminate bureaucracy”.

He suggested eliminating 740 state positions, and adding more staff to agencies that need it, like the Department of Corrections. He did not name the boards or commissions that he wanted to eliminate, but said they were “redundant.”

He said that the program would end after a year.

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“This is the DOGE’ing of our State University System, and I believe it will be good for taxpayers.” DeSantis told a Tampa press conference that the DOGE would be beneficial for both students and taxpayers. He said that he also wants to “do DOGE on some local governments.”

Musk’s federal special group, in its quest to eliminate fraud and wasteful spending, has fired more than 200,000 federal workers and put trillions of dollars worth of federal grant funding in jeopardy. The role of the billionaire tech giant in government has also raised concerns about possible conflicts of interest.

Critics claim that the new Florida program is going to cause chaos and lead to the demise of important programs.

Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando) said that it was “laughable,” for a Republican Governor whose party had been in power for years to suddenly claim the need to improve state government efficiency.

She said, “Let’s not be confused: The Republican Party has been in control of our state government for almost 30 years. Any inefficiency is a direct consequence of their mismanagement.”

Eskamani said that “emulating the federal mismanagement of figures such as Elon Musk, is not only dangerous for our state’s foreseeable future but also misguided.”

Musk’s ad-hoc group is losing popularity, according to polls. In town halls across the country, Republican congress members faced angry constituents with concerns over federal grants and funding in limbo and thousands of federal positions being cut.

DeSantis stated that he does not believe Florida’s government to be as bloated than the federal government. He added that his administration was “DOGE” before it became cool.

DeSantis stated that Florida’s DOGE Task Force could use AI “to show up in a country, and they’ll be able audit, and they’ll be able to use AI to accomplish some of the things we’re seeing on the federal level.”

He said that AI could also be used to examine whether contracts or governments have provisions for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Maybe people know how to get around it. They use different language,” said Mr. Zane. “AI flags that for us and we can then put a stop to it.”

He added that the task force would examine all aspects of university operations, spending and debt, as well as financial management practices. This includes “examining courses and programming, and staff.”

He said, “Some of that ideological study stuff we want to prune and get rid of,” “We want to ensure that these universities serve the classical mission of a university, which is not to impose an ideology. It is to teach students to think, and prepare them as citizens of our republic.