<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Clamoring to capitalize on the MAGA base’s excitement over Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, Republican officials in more than a dozen states have moved to start their own versions.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But they want everyone to know they’ve already spent years cutting costs.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“We were DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWMfG0bvJEI" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">said recently</a>. Or as Gov. Kevin Stitt put it in a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://x.com/GovStitt/status/1890426558369739122" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">social media</a> post: “We’ve been DOGE’ing in Oklahoma before it was cool.” Then there was Gov. Brad Little, who in his Jan. 6 <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.c-span.org/program/state-legislature/idaho-state-of-the-state-address/653974?540937" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">State of the State address boasted</a> that “Idaho was DOGE before DOGE was cool.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The flurry of state efforts to replicate the Trump administration’s work in Washington comes as state budgets across the country are <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2025/01/13/lawmakers-face-budget-crunches-tough-decisions-to-close-expected-shortfalls" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">under strain</a>, with tax revenue falling and federal spending drying up.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">In Oklahoma, Governor Stitt said he hoped to cut more than a thousand jobs over the next year from the state’s current work force of 31,600, though he and his staff emphasized retirements and attrition, and said layoffs were not “Plan A.” Governor DeSantis has said he plans to cut 740 jobs, announced as part of his budget.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">But the state initiatives so far do not reflect what is taking place in Washington. Nobody appears to be unleashing software engineers to rewrite government code and delve into confidential databases. Threats of job cuts have been relatively few so far, which is not to say there won’t be some measure of bona fide budgetary relief that emerges.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Many of these efforts to leverage the DOGE brand — such as the panels recently created in Texas, North Carolina and Kansas — have been started by state lawmakers and resemble cost-cutting committees that frequently crop up in legislatures. In some cases, lawmakers are setting up websites and soliciting citizen advice. (“Your submissions will be reviewed and incorporated into our ongoing efforts to make government processes more efficient,” a Missouri Senate panel says on its new <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.senate.mo.gov/committeeforms/GovernmentEfficiency/GovernmentEfficiencyPortal" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">cost-cutting portal</a>.)</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and <a href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F09%2Fus%2Fstate-doge-oklahoma.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">log into</a> your Times account, or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F09%2Fus%2Fstate-doge-oklahoma.html">subscribe</a> for all of The Times.</p><hr/></div><div class="css-1g71tqy"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-63woee" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-spinner" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><g fill="currentColor"><path d="M11.28 22.8a.72.72 0 1 0 1.44 0v-6.72a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72Z" opacity=".37"></path><path d="M17.766 21.16a.72.72 0 1 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.436a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.437Z" opacity=".26"></path><path d="M1.506 14.653a.72.72 0 0 0 .445 1.37l6.391-2.078a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.369l-6.39 2.077Z" opacity=".61"></path><path d="M5.07 20.314a.72.72 0 0 0 1.164.847l3.95-5.437a.72.72 0 1 0-1.165-.846l-3.95 5.436Z" opacity=".48"></path><path d="M22.049 16.022a.72.72 0 0 0 .445-1.37l-6.391-2.076a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.39 2.076Z" opacity=".17"></path><path d="M22.494 9.347a.72.72 0 1 0-.445-1.37l-6.391 2.078a.72.72 0 1 0 .445 1.369l6.39-2.077Z" opacity=".09"></path><path d="M6.234 2.84a.72.72 0 0 0-1.165.846l3.95 5.436a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165-.846l-3.95-5.437Z" opacity=".87"></path><path d="M1.951 7.978a.72.72 0 1 0-.445 1.37l6.391 2.076a.72.72 0 1 0 .445-1.37l-6.39-2.076Z" opacity=".74"></path><path d="M18.93 3.686a.72.72 0 0 0-1.164-.847l-3.95 5.437a.72.72 0 0 0 1.165.846l3.95-5.436Z" opacity=".02"></path><path d="M12.72 1.2a.72.72 0 1 0-1.44 0v6.72a.72.72 0 0 0 1.44 0V1.2Z"></path></g></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">Thank you for your patience while we verify access.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Already a subscriber? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="log-in-link" href="https://myaccount.nytimes.com/auth/login?response_type=cookie&amp;client_id=vi&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F09%2Fus%2Fstate-doge-oklahoma.html&amp;asset=opttrunc">Log in</a>.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Want all of The Times? <a class="css-z5ryv4" data-testid="subscribe-link" href="https://www.nytimes.com/subscription?campaignId=89WYR&amp;redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2025%2F03%2F09%2Fus%2Fstate-doge-oklahoma.html">Subscribe</a>.</p></div></div></div></div></div></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div>