Stitt's Oklahoma DOGE portal sought to find savings. People used it instead to troll Republicans.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Dozens of people suggested that state government could be made more efficient without state Superintendent Ryan Walters and Gov. Kevin Stitt, according to submissions made to a statewide portal that asks the public for ideas about how to save money.
In all, of the 90 submissions made to the Oklahoma Division of Government Efficiency portal around half targeted Walters, Stitt, and other Republicans leaders, including those serving in state's congressional delegation, according to Oklahoma Voice's analysis of portal submissions, which were released in response to an Open Records request.
Submitters were particularly critical of Republicans' policies, including spending public money to pay for private school education, attempts to incorporate 'religion in schools and government,' and for removing options for state employees to work from home.
Better known as 'DOGE-OK,' the Stitt-led initiative is modeled after President Donald Trump's federal Department of Government Efficiency. It requested submissions from the public in what a spokesperson for Stitt said is intended to be a 'jumping off point' to find savings within the state government. Stitt's office did not return a request for comment on if any submissions have been used to inform savings yet.
DOGE-OK has reported finding over $51 million in savings in state government spending since its launch in February, though none of the existing savings appeared to align with the public suggestions in the portal.
Stitt's DOGE effort is separate from the Oklahoma House portal launched in December. House lawmakers said submissions to that portal informed budget conversations, but also included 'spam' targeted at a statewide elected official legislators refused to name.
Some submissions to Stitt's portal though appeared to be legitimate attempts at pointing out perceived inefficiencies. These included complaints about the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority, too many public relations contracts at state agencies and recommendations to consolidate some of the state's law enforcement agencies.
At least two individuals identified themselves as current or former state employees. They critiqued inefficiencies in the current process for purchasing orders and asked that the state revert to a previous process.
One submitter suggested using artificial intelligence to gather public records for those requesting them from the state.
Another recommended providing Department of Corrections officers with tablets to scan inmate IDs to 'allow for quicker, safer, and more accurate completion of counts.'
Another suggested that the Oklahoma Tax Commission unnecessarily spends 'a lot of time and money going after tax balances that may not be collectable from many years ago.'
But around half of the submissions targeted Walters, Stitt, or other Republican leaders, including U.S. senators James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin, U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice and anyone who is serving on the DOGE-OK team.
One person suggested Walters and Stitt not be paid a salary. At least one called for the increased deportation of undocumented immigrants though didn't include any specifics.
Some submissions contained expletives or were left blank.
Another commenter questioned the need for an 'entire new agency' to tell existing ones to be more efficient and criticized the creation of DOGE-OK as duplicating efforts and 'inventing a whole bureaucracy.'
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