‘DOGE’ in the States: One State’s Success Story Making 25% of Regulations and Fees ‘Disappear’

Following up on a story we shared with you on April 25, more states are looking for their own “DOGE,” or Department of Government Efficiency.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis launched a “DOGE task force” to audit spending, cut bureaucracy, and eliminate DEI programs. Earlier this year, the Georgia Senate passed a bill aimed at reducing costs and increasing accountability for state agencies by having them review and update rules and regulations every four years. Iowa’s Gov. Kim Reynolds announced the creation of an official state DOGE task force. Similar efforts in Kansas, Missouri, New Hampshire, North and South Carolina, and Oklahoma are looking to find those places within the bureaucracy that have become overgrown.

While most DOGEs won’t be led by someone as enigmatic as Elon Musk, they will all need direction. Virginia’s version of DOGE is the Office of Regulatory Management and has been around since 2022, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued Executive Order 19 creating it.

Most magicians don’t want to give away the secrets to their act, but Reeve Bull, the director of Virginia’s Office of Regulatory Management, sits down with The Daily Signal to explain how he and the Virginia government agencies that he’s been working with have made nearly 25% of Virginia’s regulations and fees “disappear”: