That includes a proposal to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot creating a new Cabinet-level position called the Commissioner of Government Efficiency (COGE). That officer would be elected by the voters to investigate and report on fraud, waste, and abuse in state government.
The proposed amendment would eliminate the Florida Auditor General’s position, as well the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
The House State Affairs Committee approved the joint resolution (HJR 1325) on Thursday morning, but only after an hour of intense questioning by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle as to whether the proposed office was necessary.
Brevard County Republican Tyler Sirois, a co-sponsor along with Southeast Florida Republican John Snyder, told the committee that they drew inspiration from the national conversation about the size and scope and efficiency of the federal government.
He promised, however, that the office would apply “more of a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer,” because, he said, Florida already has the smallest state workforce per capita in the country and that it’s already run as a “lean, mean machine.”
What makes his proposal different from the federal model, Sirois said, is that the measure comes with an opportunity for voters to repeal the position — although not until 2044.
Needless to say, the proposal received strong pushback from Democrats on the committee.
“DOGE, as it currently stands, has been a trainwreck,” said Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani. “Look at the federal government, at what Elon Musk has done in firing civil servants for no reason beyond a preference to fire them.”
“DOGE is a hot fire trashcan mess, okay? And it’s ruining people’s lives and we cannot be aspiring to be something that’s such a mess,” said Miami-Dade County Democrat Ashley Gantt. “I don’t think Florida should imitate that.”
The process
The legislation says that the COGE will audit and investigate within the executive branch of state government and within cities, counties, and special districts — a provision that worried Eskamani, who is running for mayor of Orlando in 2028.
“We have been going after local governments in multiple committees, tightening the state grip on them and impacting their ability to raise revenue to respond to pay their police and their fire and so forth. So also gives me hesitation, because I do think there’s actually a mirror to look at ourselves before we even start holding local governments to a standard that we don’t often follow ourselves,” said Eskamani.
Under the proposal, if lawmakers pass the resolution in both chambers by the 3/5ths votes required to place it on the ballot next year, and 60% of the voters approve in November 2026, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President would convene a special session of the Legislature to select the new commissioner no later than March 2, 2027.
That person would serve until the 2028 election, when voters would fill the position. The office would go up for re-election in 2030, to make it congruent with the elections held in off-years for Florida Cabinet officers.
Passing fancy
St. Petersburg Democratic Rep. Lindsay Cross said that didn’t make much sense to her.
“By that time, maybe we don’t like DOGE anymore and there’s something else and we wish we would be doing things more efficiently as a Legislature,” she said. “To me, this seems like artificially creating something that I don’t think we need.”
But Republicans on the committee insisted there is an overwhelming need to ferret out government waste and that the proposal is just another tool to do just that.
Pasco County Republican Randy Maggard noted that committees during this year’s legislative session have found excessive spending, and he applauded Sirois and Snyder for their resolution.
“Yeah, we need oversight. Yeah, this is important,” he said. “This is the taxpayers’ money. We should be responsible for that. This conversation is not new,” he said.
Duval County Republican Wyman Duggan said that legislators have previously uncovered excess spending and corruption, but they work only part-time. “Having a full-time government entity looking into these issues in the 13th largest economy, I think, is eminently reasonable.”
And he countered that it isn’t comparable to what’s happening at the federal level with Musk and DOGE, saying the position would be an elected Cabinet-level office, not an appointed department-level office. “This is going to be at the highest profile level, directly accountable to the people,” he said.
Succession
The resolution says that if approved, the ballot measure would eliminate the Office of Lieutenant Governor. That position is vacant right now following the resignation last month of Jeanette Nuñez after she was selected as interim president of Florida International University.Several lawmakers on the committee struggled to understand how the succession would work if something happened to the governor.
The sponsors replied that the succession would remain as laid out in state statute. Without a lieutenant governor, the next official to take over would be the attorney general, followed by the chief financial officer and the commissioner of agriculture.
The Legislature could change that arrangment through implementing legislation should the amendment pass, Sirois and Snyder said.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has been touting Elon Musk’s efforts and last month issued an executive order creating the Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) task force, which he said will work to further eliminate waste within state government, save taxpayers money, and ensure accountability in Florida.
The committee passed the proposal mostly along party lines, with Caruso the only Republican to vote no. The resolution will now go to the House floor for a vote. The Senate companion sponsored by Brevard County’s Randy Fine (SJR 1756) has two more stops in that chamber before reaching the floor.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
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This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2025.