As the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) makes headlines and courts controversy, a group of Illinois lawmakers are pushing for a state-level version of the department.
President Donald Trump established the new federal department on the very first day of his second term last month. In an executive order, the president said that its purpose is to modernize technology to “maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Over the past month, DOGE’s efforts – led by multi-billionaire Elon Musk, known as the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and as the owner of X – have received considerable media coverage and been met with protests, as well as lawsuits. This Monday, Audacy reported that at least 14 states have filed lawsuits against Trump, Musk and DOGE. These suits claim that DOGE’s cuts are unconstitutional.
In an update to its website this week, DOGE claimed that it has saved the government $55 billion so far through its efforts (that’s the same size as the 2026 state budget Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker proposed this week). At the top of the savings list was $6.5 billion related to DOGE’s U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) cuts, which have also been challenged in court. More regular updates from DOGE are expected going forward.
Prior to the update, Audacy reported that nearly 90% of Americans believe the U.S. should spend at least 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid, according to a survey conducted by the Program for Public Consultation at the University of Maryland.
While Trump himself has said that Musk is leading the push for a government audit with DOGE in the past, the White House said this week that he is not technically part of the department.
“The remarks came in a court filing from the director of the White House Office of Administration, Joshua Fisher, according to a report from Reuters,” said Audacy. “In the filing, Fisher argued that Musk is an employee of the ‘White House Office,’ being that he serves as a senior adviser to the president.”
In Illinois, State Rep. John M. Cabello (R-Machesney Park) proposed legislation that would create a Department of Government Efficiency in the Office of the Auditor General. This department would have five directors, four that would be appointed by leaders of the General Assembly. Per the proposed bill, the purpose of the department would be “to provide advice to policymakers to help save taxpayers in this State money.”
Cabello was sworn in this year for his 7th term in the Illinois House of Representatives. He is also one of only three current Illinois lawmakers also serving as an active duty law enforcement officer.
According to Axios, Cabello and his fellow Illinois Republicans have targeted spending on education, including Chicago Public Schools, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and identify duplicative local governments for consolidation as areas to audit. Per the outlet, “duplicative governments,” is a longtime Republican issue in the state, which it said “has the most units of government in the country.”
During his annual State of the State address in Springfield this Wednesday, Gov. Pritzker said that he has plans for “no new taxes” but added that some things should not be cut in government.
“I know it’s in fashion at the federal level right now to just indiscriminately slash school funding, healthcare coverage, support for farmers and veterans services,” he said. “They say they’re doing it to eliminate inefficiencies. But only an idiot would think that we should eliminate emergency response in a natural disaster, education and health care for disabled children.”
He also aimed some comments directly at Trump and Musk.
“This year, the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plan to steal Illinois’s tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and the services that they need.”
House Republican Leader Tony McCombie and Cabello (both sponsors of the Illinois DOGE legislation) both hit back at Pritzker’s comments. McCombie called the governor’s statements “gaslighting,” and both indicated that Pritzker is eyeing a presidential run.
“Illinois residents deserve a government that is transparent, efficient, and accountable,” said Cabello, who called for Pritzker to resign. “That’s why I introduced legislation to create the Illinois Department of Government Efficiency – because unlike Governor Pritzker, I believe we should be cutting waste and prioritizing the needs of working families – rather than growing bureaucracy and reckless spending.”
Previously, Pritzker poked fun at Trump’s renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America by joking that he would rename Lake Michigan to Lake Illinois. Axios noted that most lawmakers in the state are in Pritzker’s Democratic party, including a majority of the state House, which means that the DOGE legislation doesn’t have much of a chance of passing in the Land of Lincoln.