Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed an executive order Monday launching the Iowa Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, task force.
With that step, Reynolds is hoping to build on her previous government reorganization efforts, by modeling it on the federal DOGE that recently was begun by President Donald Trump
Reynolds said the task force will simply make recommendations for streamlining government, it won’t have access to employees’ personal information or give direct orders to state agencies.
“So we need to work with the federal government. We need to work with local government, figure out how we can streamline all of our processes, and if there’s duplication happening, well guess what? Then that’s a cost to the taxpayers,” she said.
Reynolds says she has to keep state spending in check to help ensure her tax cuts are sustainable. She says she can’t rule out layoffs being included in the recommendations.
Reynolds is putting Emily Schmitt of Sukup Manufacturing in charge of the task force. The full list of 15 to 20 task force members hasn’t been finalized yet.
