Governor Ron DeSantis has announced Monday the creation of a new Florida DOGE task force, which among other things will audit the state’s public universities.
The task force is similar to the federal Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk.
DeSantis said under the new state-led task force, all twelve of Florida’s public universities will be subject to an independent review and audit.
The goal is to look at how money is being spent, along with the courses and programming that is being offered to students.
DeSantis said as a result, some classes and majors that are considered to be “ideological” or not useful in terms of employment may be discontinued.
“There are certain subjects that, 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,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also said that programs and departments that are supportive of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, will be cut. The Stop Woke Act in 2022 made it illegal for public universities to get funding for DEI efforts on college campuses.
“You can't simply say you're following our law to eliminate DEI by just simply re-characterizing it using different terms, you're still violating the law. And if we find that, we will absolutely hold you accountable,” said DeSantis.
DeSantis said as part of these local DOGE efforts, more than 70 state boards and commissions along with some 1,700 state worker jobs could be cut. He also expects state-led audits of local municipalities and counties to begin.
The governor said that in order for these efforts to move forward, he will need to get the approval of the legislature, but expects lawmakers to be supportive.
Listen to the full conference on Florida DOGE here:
