Elon Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, recognized shorthand as DOGE, launched below President Trump in January and since has despatched shockwaves by way of Washington and the remainder of the nation. As California’s former chief knowledge officerI’ve watched this experiment with a mixture of alarm and reluctant admiration.
DOGE’s strategies — unilateral energy grabs, reckless knowledge entry and a cavalier disregard for authorized boundaries — are a masterclass in what to not do. But its core intention, slashing wasteful spending and forcing accountability on a bloated forms, is a objective no critical chief can ignore.
California, with its $ 322 Billion funds and perennial fiscal crisesdesperately wants an analogous reckoning. Any candidate for governor in 2026 should embrace this problem — not with Musk’s sledgehammer, however with a scalpel guided by knowledge and transparency.
DOGE’s rollout has been a circus. Shutting down complete companies like USAID in a single day, seizing management of Treasury techniques that maintain delicate taxpayer knowledge, and wielding AI to slash budgets with out congressional oversight isn’t reform, it’s chaos. Lawsuits piling up from unions and states underscore the authorized quicksand Musk has stepped into.
California can’t afford such recklessness. Our state’s challenges, resembling wildfire restoration, housing shortages and Medi-Cal growthdemand precision, not a billionaire’s blunt drive trauma.
However let’s not child ourselves: California’s authorities is rife with waste. As a state knowledge official, I noticed firsthand how departmental silos obscure spending, how outdated techniques conceal inefficiencies, and the way fraud festers in a funds so huge it defies comprehension. The Legislative Analyst’s Workplace routinely flags billions in questionable allocations, but we not often see follow-through.
DOGE’s intention to avoid wasting taxpayers cash resonates right here, the place taxes soar and deficits loom. The concept of a top-to-bottom audit of each division isn’t radical — it’s overdue.
What California wants is a wiser playbook. We will look to Maryland, the place then-Gov. Martin O’Malley carried out StateStat practically twenty years in the past (now known as the Efficiency Enchancment Workplace), or Washington with Outcomes Washington — each data-driven techniques that tracked the efficiency of companies in actual time. From crime charges to infrastructure delays, these platforms create accountability, lower prices and delivered outcomes, with out burning the home down.
California may construct its personal model: a government-wide dashboard exposing spending, outcomes and inefficiencies for all to see. Pair that with a full audit — unbiased, rigorous and public — and we’d have a blueprint to root out waste and fraud with out Muskian theatrics.
The 2026 gubernatorial race is the second to demand this. Candidates can’t simply tinker across the edges with feel-good guarantees. Our funds isn’t simply gigantic — it’s a labyrinth. Medi-Cal alone, at $161 billion yearlybegs for scrutiny. Are we overpaying suppliers? Are duplicated providers draining funds? What in regards to the California Division of Transportation, the place freeway initiatives balloon previous deadlines and budgets?
A StateStat mannequin, backed by an audit, may reply these questions and doubtlessly save billions of {dollars} that we may redirect to colleges, housing or tax reduction.
Critics will cry that that is austerity in disguise. It’s not. Effectivity isn’t about slashing providers — it’s about guaranteeing each greenback delivers. Once I oversaw California’s knowledge technique, we uncovered redundancies that would’ve funded complete applications if redirected. Fraud, too, isn’t a victimless crime; it siphons sources from the weak.
Any governor who geese this battle is complicit in the established order.
DOGE could also be a cautionary story, however its ambition ought to wake us up. California’s subsequent governor should wield knowledge, not headlines, to tame our sprawling authorities. A full audit, a StateStat-like system and a relentless hunt for waste aren’t optionally available — they’re the value of management in a state stretched to its limits. Voters ought to accept nothing much less.
