UCF president welcomes DeSantis’ promise to cut ‘wasteful spending’ through Florida DOGE

As protests erupt across the country over widespread cost-cutting efforts imposed by the Trump administration’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, targeting government spending, the University of Central Florida in Orlando has publicly welcomed the idea of establishing a state version here — with a special eye trained on universities’ spending.

“UCF looks forward to partnering with the DOGE team appointed by Governor DeSantis to further strengthen our commitment to efficiency with impact — ensuring the highest quality and best outcomes for Florida and its taxpayers,” the university posted last week on its social media account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Alexander Cartwright, president of UCF, similarly praised the idea in a March 26 post on X, quote-tweeting DeSantis. “Maximizing taxpayer value while fueling Florida’s future — that’s UCF’s commitment,” wrote Cartwright, who recently secured a 20 percent raise himself, giving him a base annual salary of $900,00 and a total salary package of $1.275 million.

“Among the lowest funded universities per student, we deliver high-quality graduates Florida needs to power our economy,” Cartwright added. “A model of excellence and efficiency aligned with Florida’s DOGE initiative.” The federal Department of Government Efficiency, a new initiative informally led by Trump adviser and tech billionaire Elon Musk, has been met with both praise and protest from the public in its mission to downsize the federal government and shrivel the government workforce of roughly 3 million, one-third of whom are U.S. veterans.

Mass layoffs of federal workers have been announced across various agencies since Trump took office, from the U.S. Department of Education — which Trump ultimately aims to abolish — to the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Veterans Affairs and National Parks Service, among others. Following orders by judges in court, who found the Trump administration’s claim of “performance” issues among fired civil servants false, thousands have been reinstated. The administration has since taken aim at their collective bargaining rights.

“This administration’s bullying tactics represent a clear threat not just to federal employees and their unions, but to every American who values democracy and the freedoms of speech and association,” American Federation of Government Employees  union president Everett Kelley declared in a statement. “Trump’s threat to unions and working people across America is clear: fall in line or else.”

Nevertheless, the idea of “eliminating waste” within the government is an idea that appealed to DeSantis, who announced the creation of his own state Department of Government Efficiency Task Force by executive order in February.

A resolution (HJR 1325) from Republican state lawmakers to, in effect, duplicate Trump’s DOGE emerged shortly after, and could be headed for the 2026 ballot with lawmakers’ approval. Their proposal, opposed by Democrats, seeks to eliminate the Florida Auditor General’s position, gut the Office of Lieutenant Governor, and establish a new Cabinet-level position called the Commissioner of Government Efficiency.

As part of his task force effort, DeSantis has explicitly talked about “auditing and eliminating any wasteful spending in our higher education system,” as he puts it, in addition to training eyes on state and municipal budgets. “As part of the Florida DOGE mission, I have ordered a review of all facets of operations at our colleges and universities,” DeSantis wrote on X, shortly after sharing remarks at a meeting this week of the State Board of Governors, which oversees the university system.

“We’ve made strides in eliminating DEI and administrative bloat, and we will continue that fight to ensure that our world-class higher education institutions are optimized to best serve our students and our state.”

The UCF faculty union, United Faculty of Florida, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Orlando Weekly on UCF’s public praise for DeSantis’ DOGE efforts. Steve Lang, president of the University of South Florida chapter of UFF, told the USF Oracle earlier this month that it’s unclear to him what this effort to cut “wasteful” spending at universities would look like in practice.

“Right now, it’s just kind of imaginary,” said Lang, a professor of Educational Measurement and Research. “I don’t think the students or the faculty want anybody to cut back the university system.”

The University of Central Florida is the state’s largest public university by enrollment, with nearly 70,000 students, more than 13,000 employees, and an operating budget of $2 billion. Cartwright, the university president, has served as UCF head since 2020, when he began the job with a base salary of $600,000.

In addition to fiscal responsibility, DeSantis also plans to conduct audits to weed “ideological study stuff” out of universities’ curricula and ensure compliance with the state’s ban on university-sponsored diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The details of what this would look like are scant, but DeSantis floated the idea of leveraging artificial intelligence.

Democrats have blasted the DOGE rhetoric from DeSantis and their Republican colleagues. State Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, during a committee stop for her colleagues’ proposal last week, described DOGE as a “trainwreck.”

“Look at the federal government, at what Elon Musk has done in firing civil servants for no reason beyond a preference to fire them,” she said.

Republican State Rep. Tyler Siriois, a co-sponsor of the state proposal, promised a House committee that his proposed DOGE would apply “more of a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer” if the proposal is approved, the Florida Phoenix reported. Florida is already a “lean, mean machine,” said Sirois, with the smallest workforce per capita in the country.

State lawmakers in both the Florida House and Senate would need to pass the resolution by the three-fifths votes required to place it on the ballot next year. At least 60 percent of voters would then need to approve it in November 2026. If that occurs, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President would convene a special session of the state Legislature no later than March 2, 2027 to select the “COGE.”

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This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2025.