ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — President Donald Trump said at a Tuesday Cabinet meeting that his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team is nearing its halfway point in cutting government jobs.
WPTV is taking a close look at Florida's DOGE team, recently created by Gov. Ron DeSantis to look at potential cuts in state and local governments.
WATCH BELOW: Why these commissioners say DOGE oversight is a good thing
We talked with two St. Lucie County commissioners who say they welcome Florida's DOGE and its high-tech review.
"AI (artificial intelligence) is a powerful tool," St. Lucie County Commissioner James Clasby said. "It finds things you normally wouldn't even think of."
Clasby, a newly elected county commissioner, wants the DOGE team to make St. Lucie County its first stop.
He campaigned on lower taxes and better roads. And the Republican said that it can happen if a review of county finances can reduce inefficiency using advanced technology like AI.
"It does a lot of the tedious work in milliseconds that it would take most people hours to do," Clasby said.
The governor said in a letter this month to Florida municipalities that the state DOGE team "will use advanced technology to identify, review, and report on unnecessary spending within county and municipal governments."
State
How Florida's DOGE team plans to use 'advanced technology'
"There's waste," County Commissioner Cathy Townsend, who was elected in 2016, said. "There's definitely waste."
Townsend believes the DOGE team might find ways to make St. Lucie County's $800 million budget go further.
"The county's in a good place," Townsend said. "We're financially strong. But I'm sure there are places to cut, just like in our own personal lives, right?"
Clasby calls himself a fiscally conservative, computer-savvy millennial.
He said younger, newer office holders believe Florida DOGE's high-tech review of state and local budgets can lead to a more streamlined government.
"We're maintaining a system that's been approved by budget year after year from other politicians that have been in office," Clasby said..
Both commissioners can't predict what the DOGE team and its advanced tech will find in the county budget, but both of them said they welcome a look at their books. They said it didn't matter what jobs or programs are found wasteful or inefficient.
