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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) expressed his views on the failure of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), attributing it to Congress’s inability to enact budget reductions.
DeSantis took to X on Thursday and reacted to the federal government posting a record July budget deficit of $432 billion, and called it “The failure of DOGE in one sentence.”
The failure of DOGE in one sentence… https://t.co/WsAKaRuRXL
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 13, 2026
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In subsequent posts, DeSantis responded to users who questioned him about his stance and explained that DOGE’s efforts to cut spending and reduce the federal deficit failed because Congress did not turn its recommendations into law.
He argued that a federal balanced-budget or spending/debt-limit amendment is needed to force Congress to act, noting that 28 states have already certified support under Article V.
“DOGE fought the Swamp and the Swamp won,” he wrote.
The goal was to reduce the budget (like FL has done for four straight years) and reduce the deficit.
Of course Congress needed to enact it into law. It didn’t.
DOGE fought the Swamp and the Swamp won. https://t.co/w4QxCtSu82
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 13, 2026
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Notably, DeSantis launched Florida DOGE in February 2025, tasking it with cutting government waste, reviewing state and local spending, and using AI to identify inefficiencies.
By October 2025, the state said the initiative had identified nearly $1 billion in potentially wasteful spending across five local governments, while the DeSantis administration said broader efficiency and DOGE efforts had generated $850 million in savings by December 2025.
Medicare Surge Adds To US Fiscal Strain
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department reported that the U.S. budget deficit for July surged to its highest level since March 2021. The collective deficit for the first 10 months of the fiscal year rose to nearly $1.8 trillion, surpassing the same period in 2025.
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Medicare spending surged to $174 billion in July, up from $103 billion in June, bringing the annual total to $955 billion. It was the government’s largest July expense, exceeding Social Security and net interest on the national debt. The budget also absorbed $33 billion in tariff refunds and a $99 billion timing-related hit from benefit and Medicare payments.
DeSantis’s comments come in the wake of a proposal by Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke. Hanke has urged the creation of a Government Transformation Task Force, arguing for a new “fiscal Constitution” to impose discipline on the federal government.
He believes that the government is “flying blind” due to a lack of enforceable fiscal restraints and outcome-based measures. Hanke’s proposal includes a call for a limited Article V constitutional convention to create a binding “debt brake.”
Image Credit: Corey Perrine via Imagn Images
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