Iowa governor unleashes DOGE task force on state inefficiency

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday signed an executive order creating a Department of Government Efficiency task force, borrowing a concept from the temporary federal organization led by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

At the signing Monday, Reynolds said her state’s DOGE task force is charged with improving the government’s efficiency as it seeks ways to maximize the use of taxpayer funds, refine workforce programs and use new technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

Like Musk — who in recent weeks has pursued massive cuts to the federal government’s programs and workforce, borrowing tactics he’s used to reduce costs at companies he owns, like Tesla and X — Reynolds is looking to the private sector. The new state DOGE unit will include “business leaders … from some of Iowa’s most innovative employers,” she said.

“Unlike government, which is largely insulated from the pressure of competition, their organizations, their businesses are constantly faced with the need to adapt, stream, streamline and upgrade to survive,” she told press Monday. “Their work on the task force will involve applying this mindset and approach to government and developing recommendations on workforce, innovative cups, best practices, strategic performance metrics and more.”

Iowa’s DOGE unit, which will be comprised of 15-20 private-sector business leaders, Reynolds said, must deliver its first recommendations report within six months of its first meeting.

Reynolds has been a strong advocate of President Donald Trump’s efforts to reduce the size of government. During a meeting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last week, titled “Rightsizing Government,” she testified belief that her own state’s efforts could serve as a model for federal downsizing.

“Since this hearing is about government efficiency, I’ll get right to the point: Iowa was doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” she said during the Feb. 5 hearing.

Reynolds eliminated 21 state agencies, 600 open positions and 1,200 regulations, and identified 4,700 acres of farmland the state could sell, following an efficiency push in 2022. According to the governor’s office, those efforts saved taxpayers $217 million over 18 months.

Urging state agencies to “do more with less,” has been a common directive echoed by governors and state government department heads across the United States for decades. But Musk’s DOGE, which derives its name from a 12-year-old meme involving a Shiba Inu dog, has earned a reputation for deviating from norms and procedures to a degree that some say has crossed a line into recklessness.

In an opinion piece for The New York Times on Tuesday, five former Treasury secretaries wrote that they believe DOGE’s efforts are a “siege” against democracy. A federal judge over the weekend temporarily halted Musk’s access to the Treasury Department’s payment systems, a response to a lawsuit filed Friday by 18 Democratic state attorneys general.

It’s unclear whether Iowa’s DOGE unit will be as aggressive as Musk’s, or if it’s merely a rebranding of state government’s usual intermittent pushes to emulate the tech startup world’s lean image. Though Reynolds has adopted the DOGE name, she did on Monday put some distance between the efforts of her group and Musk’s, noting that her task force will not pry into the personal data of state residents.

Reynolds also pointed out that unlike the federal government, which carries $36 trillion in national debt and has a $1.9 trillion budget deficit, Iowa enjoys a budget surplus of nearly $2 billion. Reynold’s office did not return requests for additional information on the level of access to state systems and records that her DOGE unit will be granted.

Iowa’s DOGE task force will be led by Emily Schmitt, general counsel and chief administrative officer for Sukup Manufacturing Co., which bills itself on its website as “your trusted partner for innovative grain storage, drying, and handling equipment.”

“In manufacturing, we continuously review and improve every day—moving layouts, switching machines for pieces to be made, and integrating technology—all which lead to better employee engagement,” Schmitt said in a press release. “Establishing the Iowa DOGE taskforce is a natural next step in the continuation of all these principles. I trust that the outcomes of this taskforce will be felt by all Iowans.”