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A few weeks after Elon Musk shook his chainsaw at a conservative gathering promoting the Department of Government Efficiency’s federal cost-cutting efforts, Texas House launched its first meeting of its own version of Doge.
The House of Representatives’ government efficiency committee delivery leaders have followed in the footsteps of masks, pledging widespread changes and reduced size of state governments. R-Southlake Chairman Giovanni Capriglione told the Texas Tribune that Texas Doge shares its goal with the federal name to try to eliminate government waste, fraud and abuse.
“We will make long-term changes in how we operate here for the state,” Capriglione said. “This is, ‘How can we fundamentally change the way the state operates and do it in a more efficient way?’ ”
So far, mask operations in the country’s capital have led to more than 30,000 federal employees making more layoffs, rushing concerns from Democrats and Republicans. The Doge website claims it will cut around $105 billion as of Monday, but that amount is not verified and is expected to be much lower.
Asked about statewide layoffs, Capriglione said the committee “has no authority to fire employees,” but members may recommend funding cuts to agencies that will result in staffing cuts.
Democrats on the committee say they are optimistic about the opportunity they find inefficiencies, but are wary of colleagues trying to emulate Rapidfire layoffs and cuts that are happening at the federal level. What Musk’s Kuji has done is “completely horrifying,” putting the health and safety of millions of Americans at risk, said Rep. Ana Maria Rodriguez Ramos, one of the committee’s five Democrats. She doesn’t want to recreate what Doge is doing in Washington, DC in Texas
“I’m going to be the most intense fighter for that, because what they’re doing at the federal level is outrageous and the consequences will be harmful for decades,” said Rodriguez Ramos, chairman of the Legislative and Progressive Caucus in Texas.
Bhojani, Vice-Chair of the Doge Committee for D-Euless, said at Doge’s first hearing on Wednesday that the committee must avoid “partisan rhetoric.” He said unlike Congress, Texas Legislature members work in a bipartisan way, and expect that to happen in the case of the state’s Doge version.
“Texas can lead the way with a responsible and efficient government,” Bojani said at the hearing. “But let’s be clear. My focus is not to cut down essential services or underestimate hardworking civil servants. I’m not against you, but to work with you to improve how we serve the Texans.”
Some of Musk’s efforts at Doge have caused confusion in federal agencies. The USDA recently fired some employees who worked to deal with the avian flu. The Trump administration also had to reverse the layoffs of hundreds of federal employees working on the country’s nuclear weapons program.
As a legislative committee, there is a “fundamental difference” between what the state of Texas and the federal version of DOGE can do, Capriglione said. Rather than focusing on reducing public staffing, committee leaders will focus on finding areas in the era where they modernize outdated state technology systems and recommend auditing agencies.
According to a House resolution that created the Texas Doge, the committee’s jurisdiction includes topics such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and “emerging technologies.” The committee will also hear bills on similar topics, Capriglione said. So far, 27 bills have been featured in the committee, including proposals related to auditing state agencies and improving government wage transparency.
He added that Doge in Texas aims to become a “one-stop shop” for the Texans to bring complaints about state government services. In a Dallas Morning News operation released last week, Capriglione said reducing government spending was “a central part of his political career.”
“This committee will operate accurately,” Capriglione said at a hearing Wednesday. “Sometimes, we use Mesalpel, carefully analyzing inefficiencies to make governments smarter. Otherwise, we swing a sledgehammer around and tear through systemic waste and corruption that could have been challenged.”
The committee has 13 members, including Capriglione, which has eight Republicans and five Democrats. Like other committees, Doge will be able to hear public testimony about proposed laws, vote on those bills from the committee, and get voted on the House floor.
Texas is not the only state to follow in the federal government’s footsteps by creating its own doge. Other Republican-led states, including Florida and Iowa, have created their own versions. Parts were created in the form of legislative committees and as additional government departments.
Rep. David Cook, a Mansfield Republican, said the bipartisan nature of the committee and the inclusion of elected officials was the biggest difference between the Texas Dozi and Operation Washington, D.C. However, he added that “the goals are similar” between the two.
“This is an example of where the federal government came up with some really good ideas,” Cook said. “We hope that the (Texans) government is efficient and implements a good common sense policy.”
Texas already has another legislative committee responsible for reviewing state government waste and inefficiency. The Texas Sunset Advisory Committee consists of two members of the public and five members of the House and Senate. Since the committee was established in 1977, 95 state agencies have been abolished. According to the committee’s website, it will review approximately 130 institutions over the next 12 years.
Poncho Nevarez, a former Democratic representative and past member of the committee, said the DOGE committee could fill that gap as the Sunset Advisory Committee does not review each body all legislative meetings. He added that if the agency is not scheduled to be reviewed by the committee during a particular session, the Doge committee may have the ability to investigate the agency. But Nevarez is still wary of Texas Doge attempting to “cut and burn” funds as masks do in Washington.
He noticed that for decades, the irony of Republicans became a railing about waste. The last time Democrats acquired a statewide office in Texas was in 1994.
“Well, shit, who’s been running that government for almost 30 years?” Nevares said. “They act like all these agencies are running on their own, but they are all Republican appointees.”
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