AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas version of DOGE got to work on Wednesday. The Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency was created by House Speaker Dustin Burrows.

It is modeled after the controversial federal team led by Elon Musk.

What is the Texas DOGE program?

What they’re saying:

The House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency (DOGE) got underway Wednesday with a promise from Committee Chairman Giovanni Capriglione.

“For too long, government inefficiency has been tolerated, accepted and ignored. That ends now,” said Chairman Capriglione (R) Southlake.

This Texas twist on the federal DOGE program is similar in name to the one led by Elon Musk. But the chairman denied it was a political copycat.

“This is going to be different. This is, as I say, everything in Texas, a little bit bigger and a little bit better. And that’s what we’ll be doing here in this committee will be looking at using scalpels, and we’ll also be able to look at sledgehammers,” said Chairman Capriglione.

Chairman Capriglione was asked if there is waste in the Texas government. Did he think the state has been mismanaged for the past 20 years by Republican leaders? 

“It hasn’t, but we only meet every two years. So, this is an opportunity for us to go and look at what’s been done over the last two years and possibly longer,” said Chairman Capriglione.

Dig deeper:

The committee’s initial focus on Wednesday was on the state’s IT department, the newly formed Space Commission, and even the Sunset Advisory Commission.

Committee member Tony Tinderholt (R) Arlington asked the Executive Director of the Sunset Advisory Commission, Eric Beverly, how often the organization determines that an agency should be eliminated. 

“I can tell you that we have just, in the last 12 years, recommended abolishing eight different agencies,” said Beverly. 

Most state agencies not only go through a Sunset review, all go through a review during the Legislative Budget process. Despite that, Chairman Capriglione does not believe his committee is redundant.

“You always need an independent a third party, if you will, to go and look at what’s been done and what’s going on. And that’s what this committee is going to do,” said Chairman Capriglione.

During the hearing, committee member Ana-Maria Rodriguez Ramos indicated House Democrats will embrace being part of the Texas DOGE.

“I would love to learn more about exploring waste, fraud, and abuse under Operation Lonestar and I hope that, you know, our legislature would really be committed to transparency there, knowing how much we’ve spent billions and billions over the past few years,” said Rep. Rodriguez Ramos (D) Richardson.

The Texas DOGE committee will not issue pink slips. But members are expected to make recommendations about staffing and file legislative reforms that could reassign staff.

“We’re going to go and point out wherever we see inefficiencies. Right. And so, obviously, that goes to each individual agency to decide. But we already have bills that are coming to our committee that are going to talk about how to make sure that what people want and the services they need align with the resources that we’re putting into it,” said Chairman Capriglione.

Local perspective:

There is the potential for scoring political points beyond Operation Lone Star, according to Brian Smith with St. Edwards University.

“Democrats might be able to make something of this,” said Smith.

High-profile cuts, according to Smith, may be more difficult to accomplish.

“Everybody’s going to justify their program under the Dome as being very efficient,” said Smith.

Smith also noted that Texas runs a lean budget unlike the federal budget. Chairman Capriglione is confident reforms can be made.

“The goal of this is to make sure that the government’s working for the taxpayers, not the other way around,” said Chairman Capriglione.

What’s next:

The state has almost 270,000 different rules and regulations on the books. 

Based on the hearing on Wednesday, it appears the committee’s initial focus may be on that, as well as contracts and property management, rather than the state workforce.