{"id":158310,"date":"2026-02-17T12:33:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:33:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158310\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T12:33:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T12:33:21","slug":"florida-efficiency-watchdog-slow-to-reveal-its-own-spending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/158310\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida \u2018efficiency\u2019 watchdog slow to reveal its own spending"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis created Florida\u2019s new Department of Government Efficiency last year to promote \u201cefficient, effective, transparent and responsive government,\u201d DOGE auditors crisscrossed the state demanding that cities and counties turn over their spending records<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But when News 6 asked DOGE to disclose records about its own spending, Florida\u2019s new watchdog for efficiency and transparency has been less than forthcoming.<\/p>\n

Four months after News 6 began requesting public records related to the DOGE team\u2019s travel, the state has still not produced many of the requested financial documents.<\/p>\n

A report published last month claimed that DOGE, along with a separate initiative established by Florida\u2019s Chief Financial Officer called FAFO, had identified nearly $2 billion in \u201cexcessive wasteful spending\u201d by local governments. Leaders of some municipalities targeted by DOGE have disputed the state\u2019s findings. <\/p>\n

Although DOGE is operated from within the Executive Office of the Governor, representatives from various state agencies including the Florida Department of Transportation and the Florida Department of Revenue serve on a DOGE task force as auditors.<\/p>\n

A DOGE team travelled to Orange County in August for a two-day visit to audit the county government<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Since the names and home agencies of the DOGE auditors had not been previously disclosed, News 6 submitted a public record request to Orange County seeking any records that might identify the meeting attendees.<\/p>\n

About 24 hours later, Orange County officials produced a sign-in sheet for the initial meeting between at least 10 DOGE representatives and more than a dozen county staff members.<\/p>\n

The sign-in sheet and other state records indicate that one of the DOGE auditors works in the governor\u2019s office while another is employed by the Department of Management Services.<\/p>\n

Four DOGE auditors were recruited from the Florida Department of Transportation, state records show, while two were sent by Florida\u2019s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia.<\/p>\n

Two other DOGE representatives did not disclose their names on the county sign-in sheet and instead wrote down that they worked for the Florida Department of Revenue.<\/p>\n

When News 6 asked why the employees did not write their names, a Department of Revenue spokesperson originally indicated that the employees\u2019 names were exempt from release under Florida\u2019s public record laws.<\/p>\n

A News 6 reporter informed the Department of Revenue that Florida law only exempted the release of the state employees\u2019 home addresses, telephone numbers, birthdates and photographs. The specific state law identified by the agency did not prohibit the state from disclosing the government employees\u2019 names, nor did it prevent those workers from writing down their names on a sign-in sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ran your question by our general counsel\u2019s office and human resource office, and they concur that the names are not exempt,\u201d the agency\u2019s communications director later wrote in an email to News 6 that included the DOGE representatives\u2019 names. \u201cThe employees\u2019 understanding was that the exemption of their information from public records disclosure also included their names.\u201d<\/p>\n

News 6 submitted a public record request to the governor\u2019s office on Oct. 27, requesting \u201call records documenting the DOGE representatives\u2019 travel expenses\u201d related to their August visit to Orange County.<\/p>\n

Although the governor\u2019s office oversees DOGE, News 6 also sent similar public record requests to the auditors\u2019 home agencies: the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Management Services and the Office of Florida\u2019s Chief Financial Officer.<\/p>\n

More than three months later, and after multiple follow-up emails from News 6, the CFO\u2019s office released 20 pages of records detailing travel expenses for its two DOGE representatives.<\/p>\n

The records indicate the CFO spent a total of $2,041 sending the duo to Orange County. That amount included three nights at the Embassy Suites in downtown Orlando, per diem, meals, a rental car for one employee and reimbursed mileage for the other employee\u2019s personal vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Department of Financial Services was happy to support the Governor\u2019s DOGE review and lend staff to assist in those efforts,\u201d a spokesperson for CFO Ingoglia told News 6.<\/p>\n

Late Friday, more than four hours after the deadline for this story had passed, the governor\u2019s office released 18 pages of travel records for its sole DOGE representative dispatched to Orange County. That employee spent about $734 for a 2-night visit to Orange County, the records indicate.<\/p>\n

Travel records for the DMS employee and four FDOT representatives have not been disclosed in the 16 weeks since News 6 first requested them.<\/p>\n

\u201cState and local governments should be efficient, effective, transparent, and responsive and should be held accountable for achieving these goals,\u201d the governor\u2019s executive order creating DOGE<\/a> states. <\/p>\n

A DOGE report published last month indicated that Orange County\u2019s general fund spending has far outpaced population growth, surging nearly 90% since FY 2016\u201317 while the county\u2019s population grew just 17%. <\/p>\n

DOGE claims Orange County overspent on administrative salaries, rapidly expanding conservation and mental health budgets, nonprofit grants, overtime, and large leave payouts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Florida DOGE audit report confirms what we have consistently maintained: there is no evidence of fraud, misappropriation, or deliberate waste in Orange County Government,\u201d Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said<\/a> in response to the state report. \u201cDespite this clear finding, the report attempts to cast the county in a negative light through deeply flawed and inconsistent methodology.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mayor suggested the DOGE audit cherry-picked data from different years, including the period of the \u201cunprecedented\u201d COVID-19 pandemic, while downplaying the county\u2019s intentional investments in mental health, homeless services and programs supporting children and families.<\/p>\n

\u201cOrange County remains fiscally responsible, transparent, and focused on delivering measurable results for the people we serve,\u201d Demings said.<\/p>\n

You can read through the latest DOGE report below:<\/p>\n

Breaking News Alerts<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 Shortly after Gov. Ron DeSantis created Florida\u2019s new Department of Government Efficiency last year to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[28,2026,2159,1335,139,141,140,99,412,8527],"class_list":["post-158310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-florida","tag-investigators","tag-money","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-politics","tag-ron-desantis","tag-taxes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}