Reynolds spoke about the plan in her 2025 Condition of the State address on Tuesday.

“I like to say that we were doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” Reynolds said. “And to build on our success, I’m launching our own state DOGE to find even greater savings and efficiencies in both state and local government.”

The governor added that Emily Schmitt, general counsel of Sukup Manufacturing, would lead the department. Reynold’s idea is similar to Elon Musk’s and Vivek Ramaswamy’s DOGE, which aims to cut the federal government’s spending during the Trump administration.

“In just a few short years, we’ve turned our state into a national model for bold, get-it-done government. And we’re not stopping,” the Iowa governor said.

The development follows a similar initiative from Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), who was elected in November. Reynolds recently began her ninth year as Iowa’s governor.

Ayotte called her version the “Commission on Government Efficiency” and vowed to similarly “streamline government, cut spending, and create value for our taxpayers.”

“We need to make sure that the government is operating more like the lean process in manufacturing, where waste is eliminated each step in the process for a better result,” she said.

Wisconsin’s State Assembly also followed the government efficiency trend, starting a committee called the Government Oversight, Accountability, and Transparency Committee. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he was “excited” for the committee and others in the session.

“I think that we can look at a lot of ideas and try to find ways to make the government do a better job than we currently are,” Vos told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I’m super excited that we’re going to now kind of focus on, not just how do we layer more things on, but how do we make the things that we already have work better,” he added. 

Streamlining government isn’t a new priority for Republicans. Former Republican Michigan Gov. John Engler wrote a Politico op-ed alongside current White House chief of staff Jeff Zients in 2012 succinctly titled “Streamline the federal government.”

The piece called for consolidating and reorganizing the government in order to eliminate bureaucracy and save taxpayer dollars. “We have a chance to rethink, reform and remake government in ways that will save taxpayers’ money and help us better meet the challenges of our time. In the weeks ahead, we hope that both parties in Congress can come together to seize this chance,” they said.

It’s likely that other state Republicans will continue the government efficiency trend, especially when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on Monday and his DOGE begins.