LANSING, Mich. — Drawing inspiration from efforts at the federal level, Michigan State House Republicans launched their own ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ task force Thursday.
The state “DOGE” is made up of 13 republican lawmakers who say their goal is improving accountability and efficiency in state government.
The task force also hopes “restore trust in public institutions” by identifying inefficiencies, reducing waste, and promoting “responsible, taxpayer-first governance at every level of Michigan’s public sector.”
Unlike the federal DOGE, however, the task force will only issue recommendations, which would then have to be passed by state lawmakers.
That could prove difficult as democrats control the Senate and Governor’s office.
Task force members, though, think Republicans can take full control and are staking Michigan’s future success on their ability to make cuts.
“We believe the catalyst for Michigan, the catalyst to get us back is going to be a reduction in state government and at some point a return of resources to the taxpayer,” Task Force Chair Sate Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton) said.
The task force didn’t have any concrete plans yet, but said they would like to see the size of state government reduced.
For example, they would like to reduce the number of state departments from 18 to 12.
“We are going to listen to the public and pursue solutions that make a real difference,” DeSana said. “At the end of the day, our job is to protect taxpayers and make this government work better for every Michigander.”
The members of the Michigan DOGE Task Force include DeSana and State Representatives Ann Bollin, Steve Carra, Jaime Greene, Jay DeBoyer, Gina Johnsen, Joseph Pavlov, Bill Schuette, Bradley Slagh, Rachelle Smit, Donni Steele, Jason Woolford and Jennifer Wortz.