Auditor General would evolve into COGE under House-backed plan

Debate on House floor April 16. (Florida Sunshine Channel)

Whoever get elected as Lt. Governor next year would instead take on a new Cabinet position tasked with Florida’s own DOGE efforts under a House proposal advancing Wednesday.

With a a 82-32 vote, the House passed a resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the 2026 ballot to eliminate the Governor’s No. 2 while also creating the Office of Government Efficiency to audit state and local governments or special districts for wasteful spending.

“This is not a sledgehammer; this is a scalpel,” said HJR 1325 sponsor Rep. Tyler Sirois, a Merritt Island Republican. “Florida is going to take a scalpel to government efficiency. We’re going to look at waste, fraud and abuse. … There is nothing reckless about pursuing value and good customer service for the taxpayers of our state.”

The original bill called for the Legislature to initially appoint the first Commissioner of Government Efficiency (COGE) into the new Cabinet position. From then on, the COGE would be elected. 

But an amendment that passed Wednesday changed the proposal, so whoever the Governor picks as a running mate would automatically be named the new COGE for a four-year term until voters decided on the COGE going forward in future years.

By 2044, voters could repeal the constitutional amendment — “a provision of this bill that we should all take some level of comfort in,” Sirois said.

Democrats raised the concern if the incoming Lt. Governor didn’t possess the right skills as COGE to replace the Auditor General.

The move would permanently get rid of the Lt. Governor’s position which is currently vacant following Jeanette Nuñez’s departure to become Interim President of Florida International University.

Both sides of the aisle brought up concerns during Wednesday’s debate.

Rep. Mike Caruso, a Delray Beach Republican, criticized it as a “useless bill.”

“This bill gives the Office of the Auditor General a fancy new name, promises to spend a bunch of money and then pats ourselves on the back, except when the dust settles, the new law doesn’t actually make a difference,” he argued.

Meanwhile Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, worried COGE was trying to mirror the controversy happening at the federal level with Elon Musk.

“What we’ve seen at the federal government with Elon Musk has been a disaster in creating complete chaos at the federal level, terminating employees with no notice, eliminating departments that focus on research and public health and … national parks,” Eskamani said. 

Sirois argued his bill isn’t copying the federal government since Florida is unique with a lean, balanced budget.

“There is a national conversation that is going on about how we can introduce new efficiencies, new savings,” he said. “Where can we root out government that is not serving the people?”