We’ll give him this: At least he is going through the proper legislative channels. Aside from that, a proposal from Rep. Jim Walsh to create a state Department of Government Efficiency is laughably far-fetched, although it does provide an opportunity for comparisons with the federal DOGE.
Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican and chair of the Washington State Republican Party, has introduced House Bill 2076 — which counts Rep. John Ley, R-Vancouver, among its five co-sponsors. The legislation would create a state-level version of President Donald Trump’s federal initiative.
“I mean, the reason I did it was I had people asking me to do it — contacting me by email or text message saying, ‘You need to create a WA DOGE,’ ” Walsh said. “The problem is it’s very hard to get our executive branch excited about accountability and efficiency. So this creature, unlike the federal creature, is a creature of the legislative branch rather than the executive branch.”
That is a significant difference from the federal version. Trump unilaterally created DOGE — which isn’t really a department because departments are created by Congress. He then placed industrialist Elon Musk in charge, giving Musk the power to fire federal employees, reject spending approved by Congress, and access the personal information of Americans.
While the idea of improving government efficiency is a worthy one, the process being undertaken and the power wielded by Musk and his minions should frighten all American citizens.
So should the absurdity of the rhetoric from Musk and Trump. Initially, the stated goal was a $1 trillion reduction in federal spending — suggesting that government was overwhelmed by waste that could be easily pruned. But at a cabinet meeting last week, Musk said he expects to achieve savings of $150 billion.
As the New York Times reported, “There was always a good reason the original $1 trillion goal was out of reach: The part of the budget that Mr. Musk has been mining for savings was expected to total only $950 billion next year.”
In other words, the process always has been about theatrics rather than accountability. But the impacts have been genuine. According to media estimates, more than 120,000 federal workers have been fired since the start of the second Trump administration — which sounds more like demagoguery than efficiency.
Unlike Trump, Walsh has put some thought into his plan for reducing government waste. The state’s DOGE would be temporary, and each agency would have 6 percent of its operating budget held in reserve pending an audit by the efficiency department.
But there are drawbacks. One is that it ignores the existence of the state Auditor’s Office, which includes performance audits among its duties. Another is that the proposal stands no chance of being approved by the Democratic Legislature and no chance of being signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson; anything echoing the incompetence of the Trump administration is dead on arrival in this state. And another is that, because it was introduced late in the session, the proposal appears to be performative rather than a sincere attempt to improve state government.
Indeed, there is a need for efficiency in government; Ferguson himself has recommended a 6 percent budget reduction for state agencies in response to a revenue shortfall. But achieving such efficiency and reducing waste should draw the attention of both parties rather than a late-session ideological attempt inspired by Trump’s misguided efforts.
