DeSantis' DOGE team misses deadline for report to lawmakers

Lawrence Mower, Tampa Bay Times on Jan 21, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Department of Government Efficiency threatened universities and local governments with strict deadlines to turn over records in its hunt for fraud, waste and abuse over the last year.

But DOGE blew its own deadline.

The task force was required to report its results to the Legislature and chief financial officer by Jan. 13 — more than a week ago. Neither House nor Senate leaders say they’ve received it, though.

The report from the governor’s office is supposed to provide the most detailed findings yet for DeSantis’ DOGE task force, named after the Trump administration effort led by billionaire Elon Musk. Tucked into the same spending bill that authorized Florida DOGE to pursue waste in local governments was a requirement that the task force report back on its findings, including “specific evidence of potential gross overspending, waste, fraud, abuse, or mismanagement of resources.”

House and Senate leaders declined to comment on the missed deadline. DeSantis spokespeople didn’t respond to requests for comment.

DOGE has rolled out waves of sweeping records requests to local governments and state universities, often on strict and expedited deadlines. They gave local governments 10 days to produce years of spending data, for example.

State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat, called it “ironic.”

“This state keeps preaching efficiency and accountability, but they don’t even hold themselves to an efficient or accountable level,” she said.

DOGE is not an actual department in state government. DeSantis established the task force through an executive order last February. The next month, Eric Soskin, a former Trump-appointed inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation, was tapped to lead the team and given a $197,000 salary.

But Blaise Ingoglia became DOGE’s chief spokesperson after DeSantis tapped him as chief financial officer last summer. The Republican homebuilder and former state senator has crisscrossed Florida’s 67 counties, announcing the group’s findings at news conferences.

Ingoglia’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

In addition to reporting examples of waste, fraud and abuse, lawmakers required DeSantis’ Office of Policy and Budget to:

— State the local governments it investigated and summarize each review

— Provide instances of resources spent on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives

— Identify “duplicative or redundant government functions”

— Recommend “any opportunities for good governance and methods to improve fiscal responsibility and streamline government services”

Florida DOGE’s X account has identified several examples of local governments spending money on diversity or LGBTQ+ initiatives, but few concrete examples of fraud.

The task force is scheduled to disband in March.

_____