One of the highlights of last week’s Texas House of Representatives assignments was the establishment of a DOGE-like committee to ferret out waste and overspending in state government.

Formally named the Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency, “Texas DOGE” has yet to schedule a meeting or have any bills assigned to it. According to Chairman Giovanni Capriglione, a Dallas-Fort Worth area Republican and chairman, members of the committee “are already working hard and making plans to deliver.”

Calls and emails to Capriglione’s office and that of vice chairman Rep. Salman Bhojani, a Democrat, were not returned at the time of writing.

Former Texas House candidate and current Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French dug into the opportunity, outlining a potential $200 million in annual savings.

“The vast majority of these expenditures come from consultancy contracts.” French said via Facebook, sharing a more detailed report on the Tarrant County GOP’s website:

• $5 million per year on late payment fees.
• Six-figure foreign travel expenditures from employee retirement funds.
• $11 million spent on “long-distance communications charges.”
• $60 million per year for the Texas Lottery to pay “its friends.”
• 100% of Broadband Infrastructure Fund spending has gone to late fees and consultants.
• $15 million per year is given to organizations like the Austin Gay Men’s Chorus.
• $21 million per year for Media Subscriptions ($30k per year).

“This is just scratching the surface. It gets much worse,” French said, teasing more findings next week. “Some expenditures are covered up to the degree that we can’t fully identify the wasteful or fraudulent elements, but are still obviously suspect.”

Speaker Dustin Burrows said the goal is to “reduce the size and scope of government and review regulations to ensure they’re meeting the needs of the state,” per a press release.

“As we work to prioritize significant financial investments into public education and property tax relief, among other items, there must be a parallel effort to root out government inefficiencies wherever else possible, ensuring every dollar, every regulation, and every agency is working as efficiently as possible for Texans,” Burrows said.

From the hip

A Texas DOGE committee has great potential to root out waste and corruption, leading the way for U.S. states to do the same. It also risks becoming a hype machine.

Unlike the advisory board headed by Elon Musk in the Trump Administration, this committee is an official organ with the ability to call witnesses and shoot down any legislation referred to it. But this being the Texas House, any legislation passed out of committee has to meet the approval of the Speaker and House leadership. This filtration comes in the form of the powerful Calendars Committee, which determines the list of bills head to the floor and which “die in calendars.”

While the membership roster of the DOGE committee looks fairly conservative, critics have pointed out that Calendars membership is … not so much.

With a state surplus and Rainy Day Fund that at times rivals the size of California’s budget deficit ($24 billion, currently), DOGE can have a field day pointing out where the savings can be made, how much money can theoretically be given back to the taxpayers, and, yes, how the size and scope of government can be reduced (and as Burrows said in his press release). But given previous performances, legislative leaders will again find more ways to spend it or again use it to buy-down property taxes.

Critics have also pointed out a power-sharing agreement with House Democrats that give committee vice chairs more power than before, which could potentially freeze out any rightward attempts at calling out government largesse and give cover for a moderate chairman.

Rep. Briscoe Cain, one of the most conservative members of the House and a member of Texas DOGE, suggested some additional teeth for the committee:

Should the DOGE Committee of the Texas House of Representatives be given some oversight over the General Appropriations Act? #txlege

— Briscoe Cain (@BriscoeCain) February 16, 2025

 

On a lighter note, Chairman Capriglione could not resist making DOGE-ball pun, referencing a 2004 comedy movie:

The 5 D’s of Doge: doge, discover, disrupt, deliver, doge.

Members of the Texas House Committee on Delivery of Government Efficiency are already working hard and making plans to deliver! #txlege #txDOGE pic.twitter.com/iJMNazaStB

— Giovanni Capriglione (@VoteGiovanni) February 14, 2025