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'America has DOGE fever': States from NJ to TX draft similar initiatives as federal leaders celebrate

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'America has DOGE fever': States from NJ to TX draft similar initiatives as federal leaders celebrate

The spread of DOGE-centric legislation and bureaucracies has taken off like a SpaceX rocket in several states across the country since Elon Musk and lawmakers like Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., began their work this year.

Bean, chair of the bipartisan DOGE Caucus, was asked about copycat initiatives popping up around the country and remarked, “America has DOGE fever.”

“As elected officials, we must ensure we are good stewards of taxpayer dollars. This means we must identify, investigate and eliminate wasteful spending.”

With a governor’s race in November and President Donald Trump only losing their state by a historically small margin, Garden State Republicans appeared bullish this week as they put forth a proposal to “bring DOGE to New Jersey.”

‘DOGE MEETS CONGRESS’: LAWMAKER LAUNCHES NEW PANEL ON GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

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The Congressional DOGE Caucus is led by Rep. Aaron Bean. (House of Representatives/Getty)

GOP Assemblymen Alex Sauickie and Christopher DePhillips recently introduced Resolution 213 to create the NJ Delegation on Government Efficiency within the Treasury Department.

Sauickie quoted former President Ronald Reagan’s 1985 retort that “government is like a baby – an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.”

“Except babies, if raised and disciplined rightly, grow into adults who usually become productive members of society. Those adopting our state budgets show no such discipline,” Sauickie said, adding that it is time for “grownups to take responsibility and say ‘no’” to reckless spending.

Some Trenton lawmakers have painted New Jersey’s financial outlook as a “fiscal cliff,” and DePhillips blamed outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy for claiming he inherited the problem from Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

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“Taxpayers want accountability for how their hard-earned money is spent,” DePhillips said.

He also called on Murphy to “stop fighting Trump” and lower New Jersey’s business taxes before the third-founded state in the union “loses out” on the potential upswing of the new administration.

Republican state Sen. Joe Pennacchio added in a recent Fox News Digital interview that he would be forming a DOGE committee in the state legislature.

“We’re mirroring what the federal government and what [Musk is] doing,” said Pennacchio.

TOP DOGE LAWMAKER SAYS TRUMP ALREADY RACKING UP WINS

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The “Trenton Makes” bridge that spans the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey, and Morrisville, Pennsylvania. (Getty)

This week, Kentucky lawmakers also prioritized government efficiency measures, with Republican state Rep. Jared Bauman forwarding a bill to establish a working group to help the state treasury modernize its tax collections and accounting.

In Texas, lawmakers in both the state Senate and House are working on DOGE-centric initiatives.

Senate President Pro-Tempore Brandon Creighton, a Republican, first oversaw the passage of the strongest DEI ban in the U.S. during the 2023 session, which eliminated billions in taxpayer-funded waste and refocused public universities on education over social issues.

After DOGE formed at the federal level, Creighton said Texas is already a model for how a jurisdiction that prioritizes government efficiency will work.

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“Seeing the swift action by President Trump and Elon Musk with DOGE is a welcome and necessary new era in Washington, D.C. – and I know they are just getting started,” Creighton told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

“Many have said that Washington should take notes from Texas – because the Texas economic engine is proof that when government is committed to efficiency, accountability and conservative results, taxpayers win.”

Meanwhile, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, officially the president of the Senate, announced a bill late last month called “Texas DOGE – Improving Government Efficiency,” according to Bloomberg.

Another reported bill by Republican state Sen. Bryan Hughes would form a DOGE office in the executive branch.

Meanwhile, the Texas House is considering forming a DOGE committee to analyze government efficiency through a 13-member panel.

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The St. Louis, Missouri, skyline along the Mississippi River (Getty)

It would investigate fraud claims, inefficient use of tax dollars, and the use of AI, according to FOX-7.

In Missouri, Republican state Rep. Ben Baker told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Missourians believe the state government is not as efficient or responsive as it should be.

“We want to look into that,” said Baker.

Baker recently announced he was named to lead the state’s new DOGE Standing Committee, adding his work will “align with federal efforts.”

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In New Hampshire, newly-inaugurated Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s first executive order created a 15-member Commission on Government Efficiency (COGE).

“COGE will make us smarter than ever before when it comes to saving taxpayer dollars and finding better ways to serve the people of our state,” she said in her inaugural address.

It will be led by former Gov. Craig Benson and businessman Andy Crews.

North Carolina also sought to get in on the DOGE trend.

Republican House Speaker Destin Hall unveiled the new NC Select Committee on Government Efficiency.

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Cape Hatteras, North Carolina (Reuters)

State Reps. Keith Kidwell and John Torbett, both Republicans, will lead the initiative, looking into waste, duplication, mismanagement and constitutional violations.

“As the new Trump administration rightfully takes aim at Washington D.C.’s wasteful spending and inefficient bureaucracy, it is time for us in Raleigh to do the same,” Kidwell said in a statement.

Bean, the U.S. House’s DOGE leader, further remarked on the collective efforts: 

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“It’s exciting to see states pick up the DOGE baton, and I applaud their efforts to improve government efficiency and stop the abuse of taxpayer dollars.”

Some in Congress, however, have cast doubt on DOGE. Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., said at an anti-DOGE rally that some of the actions at the federal level are “completely illegal.”

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Michigan

Does Kyle Whittingham face ‘win now’ pressure at Michigan?

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Does Kyle Whittingham face ‘win now’ pressure at Michigan?


For some programs, spring football has started in earnest, but for Michigan football, it will have to wait another week. But with practices on the horizon, college football pundits are starting to ask questions about what the upcoming season may look like, and among the questions is what Kyle Whittingham’s Wolverines will be in his first year.

On3’s popular show ‘Ari & Andy’ attempted to ask and answer that question on their latest episode.

As the duo of Ari Wasserman and Andy Staples mulled over various storylines in the coaching realm, once they got to the ‘newcomers’ — coaches who have taken over new programs — they started with Whittingham. For Wasserman, the big question is how quickly Whittingham can win in Ann Arbor?

“How much pressure is Kyle Whittingham to make sure that Michigan doesn’t lose whatever momentum that it had from winning the national championship and falling back into another 25 year period of being pretty good, but not great?” Wasserman said. “Because on one hand, this is a very critical moment in their program arc. But on the other hand, don’t you also have to give him the benefit of the doubt that, hey, what happened at the end of or during last year was highly dysfunctional in a way that we don’t really see very often in sports in general, let alone college sports? And you got hired during a weird time on the calendar. You probably weren’t anticipating coaching this year.

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“Like, do you get a year to try to get your bearings of a new place that expects to win a championship? Like, I don’t know how Michigan fans are viewing this season. Now you’ll tell me what you always tell me. They demand excellence, and they expect excellence. There’s no honeymoon. I think that’s true. But from a rational analysis of this, I don’t know how to view what the (expectations are), like what is a successful season for Kyle Whittingham in year one, make the playoff?”

Staples is a little less about the questions and more about the answers. Because in his mind, regardless of how he got there, Whittingham to Michigan might be the best hire of the entire cycle.

“This really isn’t about Michigan’s expectations. It’s more about Kyle Whittingham’s expectations,” Staples said. “And the fact that Kyle Whittingham did this and the fact that Michigan did this, this was Michigan going out and getting the best coach they could get. But it’s very interesting because let’s say Michigan had fired Sherrone Moore in a more conventional way. And it had been just for losing and had been at the end of the season. And Kyle Whittingham had been one of the coaches that was available, but one of many that was available that the whole cycle hadn’t already been done. I still would have called hiring Kyle Whittingham, maybe the best hire of the cycle. I don’t think a 66-year-old guy goes to this place to build, to rebuild it. He’s going to win now. That’s the whole point of this. He’s not doing this except it is to win now.”



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Minnesota

Proposal would ban crypto ATMs in Minnesota

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Proposal would ban crypto ATMs in Minnesota


ATMs that deal in cryptocurrency could be banned in Minnesota soon.

Crypto ATM ban considered

The backstory:

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Police across the state are urging lawmakers to pass a DFL ban on those kiosks that convert cash to crypto.

They say the machines are used extensively by criminals trying to scam people or to hide the proceeds of their crimes. In 2024, lawmakers passed a law to regulate the machines. Still, last year Attorney General Keith Ellison warned of an increase in crypto ATM scams.

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At a hearing last month, Faribault police reported their residents had lost $500,000 since 2022 from crypto ATM scams. Woodbury Detective Lynn Lawrence told lawmakers about a victim she helped who had completed at least ten Bitcoin transactions over six months at crypto ATMs. 

By the numbers:

Right now there are about 350 crypto kiosks in the state. They are often located in gas stations and grocery stores.

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Their owners say this proposed law goes too far, but they’d support a law requiring full refunds for any customers who were victims of fraud.

How crypto ATMs work

Dig deeper:

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Crypto ATMs allow users to turn fiat money into digital currency or vice versa. Users typically have to scan their identification to be able to use the machines and then the currency is sent to a wallet of their choosing.

However, the machines are increasingly used by scammers who convince elderly victims to use the ATMs to use the machines to send them money. Once the money is sent, it’s impossible to recoup the funds from the scammers.

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Exchanges can blacklist scammers’ wallets and block them from withdrawing ill-gotten funds. However, most scammers will use “mixers” which wash the funds through a service that makes the coins hard to track or find ways around large exchanges like decentralized exchanges and peer-to-peer exchanges.

The other side:

At a hearing on Tuesday, Larry Lipka, counsel for digital currency platform CoinFlip, which operates 50 crypto ATMs in Minnesota, recognized scams are an issue, but pointed out scamming won’t disappear if crypto kiosks are banned.

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“While I understand that scams are a problem, scams are a problem everywhere in this country,” said Lipka, “They are a problem for crypto kiosks, they are a problem for wire transfers, and they are a problem for gift cards. But no one is here today saying we should ban exchanges or gift cards or wire transfers because scammers use them.”

Instead of a ban, Lipka urged lawmakers to instead consider smarter and better controls for kiosks. According to Lipka, back in 2024, CoinFlip pushed for further protections when the previous crypto ATM bill was being discussed, arguing that legislation didn’t go far enough.

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Missouri

Missouri Supreme Court hears arguments on congressional redistricting map – Missourinet

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Missouri Supreme Court hears arguments on congressional redistricting map – Missourinet


The Missouri Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday on whether the so-called “Missouri First” map is unconstitutional.

The map, passed by Republican lawmakers in September and signed by Gov. Mike Kehoe, stretches the boundaries of the 5th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold, eastward into heavily Republican regions of the state. It also moves part of the current 5th District into the 4th and 6th districts, currently represented by Republican congressmen Mark Alford and Sam Graves. Incumbent Democrat Emanuel Cleaver is running for reelection in the 5th District.

Opponents of the Missouri First map’s main argument focused on the map being passed by lawmakers without any new data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The congressional boundaries tossed out by the Missouri First map were based on the 2020 U.S. Census.

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Attorney Chuck Hatfield represents those challenging the new map passed by Republican lawmakers last fall.

“The whole idea is tethered to the census data. You must do it at the census, and you only do it at the census,” Hatfield told the High Court. “The court’s precedents also support this.”

Solicitor General Louis Capozzi, representing the Missouri Sec. of State’s office, disagreed, saying the Missouri Constitution is silent on mid-decade redistricting.

“Mid-decade redistricting had happened in Missouri in the 1870s, and mid-decade redistricting was common around the country in the first half of the 20th century,” he argued. “Article III, Section 45 of the Missouri Constitution sets out only three requirements for the redistricting of seats in Missouri, ‘The district shall be composed of contiguous territory, as compact, and as nearly equal in population as may be.’ And as long as the General Assembly complies with those three rules, this court said that Missouri courts, ‘shall respect the political determinations of the General Assembly.’”

Meanwhile, roughly a hundred demonstrators held signs across the street from the Missouri Supreme Court building, condemning the Missouri First map and calling for the Missouri Supreme Court to strike it down.

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“Voters should choose our politicians,” said Missouri League of Women Voters Director Kay Park. “The League (of Women Voters) believes redistricting should keep communities of similar culture and race together to strengthen their vote and promote partisan fairness.”

The Missouri Supreme Court will rule on the congressional district map later.

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