DeSantis returns millions in federal funds as Florida cities receive DOGE letters

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday evening that the state had returned millions of dollars in funding back to the federal government.

DeSantis posted the news to social media, revealing a letter from his office to the U.S. Department of Treasury stating that Florida is returning $878,112,000 in taxpayer dollars back to the federal government as part of DOGE’s efforts.

Read the full story on the website of News4JAX’s sister station, WKMG-6.

“For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration — but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it,” DeSantis wrote. “Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the same day.”

The letter also says that DeSantis’ office will continue to search for other unused or surplus federal funding granted to Florida to determine whether additional refunds can be made.

“Other states should follow Florida in supporting DOGE’s efforts!” he said.

However, no details about the “ideological strings” reportedly attached to the funding were provided.

Meanwhile, Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek announced that the city had received a letter from DeSantis’ office, asking about the financial well-being of the city government.

The letter reads as follows:

“Pursuant to Executive Order 25-44, the Executive Office of the Governor has established an EOG DOGE Team which will use advanced technology to identify, review, and report on unnecessary spending within county and municipal governments and recommend legislative reforms to promote efficiency, maximize productivity, and eliminate waste in state and local government. These efforts are focused on ensuring fiscal responsibility throughout Florida.

In addition to assessing your municipality’s publicly available information over the coming weeks and months, the EOG DOGE Team is also assessing compliance with the financial management requirements set forth in section 218.503, Florida Statutes. This provision outlines the circumstances under which a local governmental entity is deemed to be in financial emergency or distress, triggering necessary corrective actions.

To fulfill our oversight role, and in accordance with article IV, section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, we respectfully request confirmation as to whether your municipality has encountered any instances of financial emergency or distress, including those listed in section 218.503(1), Florida Statutes...”

State of Florida, Office of the Governor

Examples of “financial emergency or distress” included in the memo included the following:

• Failure to pay short-term loans or obligations when due as a result of lack of funds
• Failure to make debt service payments on bonds, loans, or other debt instruments when due
• Failure to timely pay uncontested claims from creditors for more than 90 days due to lack of funds
• Failure to transfer taxes, social security contributions, or retirement plan contributions as required by law
• An unreserved or total fund balance deficit in the general fund or any major operating fund that persists for two consecutive years

“I wasn’t kidding when I said Oviedo was ready. YES, we will cooperate,” Sladek wrote. “Here are the answers to the questions: (1) No (2) No (3) No (4) No (5) No. And just like that, we carry on.”

Last month, DeSantis unveiled a new Florida DOGE task force, which aims to streamline government operations and “eliminate unnecessary bureaucracy” to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used efficiently.

DeSantis said he hopes the task force’s work will help eliminate 900 positions in addition to the 740 positions he is already proposing to eliminate. Moreover, he said public universities will be subjected to an independent review and audit to study the efficiency of their operations.

The move mirrors the Elon Musk-led DOGE, which has been hard at work slashing federal spending and government positions in the interest of reducing bureaucratic bloat.

For a long time now, concerns have mounted over the U.S. national debt, which reached a staggering $36 trillion last year. Critics argue that the current rate of federal spending will continue to push that figure even higher.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to lower these costs, leading to the creation of the federal DOGE. As of this month, the agency has claimed to save over $115 billion.