California Governor Gavin Newsom claimed Tuesday that his state is “doing DOGE but better,” referencing President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, as he launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) initiative aimed at streamlining state government operations.
Newsom’s claim came during a press conference in which he announced three new AI tools designed to improve areas like traffic congestion, rebuilding permits, and customer service. While he insisted that California’s rollout was not a response to DOGE, the timing and language suggested otherwise.
“We’re DOGE but better,” Newsom said. “And we’ve been DOGE but better for literally six years.”
Yet critics say Newsom’s remarks don’t match reality. Under his watch, California has plunged into massive budget deficits and was forced to borrow over $6 billion just last month to keep Medi-Cal—the state’s Medicaid program—afloat. His proposed 2025 state budget stands at $322 billion, up dramatically from the $209 billion he proposed in 2019.
Despite the growing fiscal hole, Newsom made no mention of staff cuts, budget reductions, or any plans to lower taxes—key hallmarks of Trump’s federally driven efficiency overhaul via DOGE.
Instead, Newsom took aim at Elon Musk, the Tesla CEO turned federal reformer who heads DOGE. “He wants the theatrics, the performative side,” Newsom quipped, while accusing DOGE of being “very damaging” for cutting too deeply into federal spending. He also taunted Musk for not yet achieving the trillion-dollar savings target set for DOGE.
Meanwhile, one of Newsom’s highlighted AI programs—intended to speed up permits in fire-ravaged Los Angeles communities—was developed not by the state but by developer Rick Caruso’s nonprofit. While Caruso credited the governor for supporting the effort, Newsom didn’t mention Caruso during his own announcement.
Observers pointed out that much of California’s political establishment continues to block meaningful reforms even as it touts innovation. For example, on the same day as Newsom’s AI push, Democrats in the legislature were blocking a bill that would make sex trafficking of minors aged 16 and 17 a felony—a move supported by both parties elsewhere in the country.
Newsom’s AI initiative also included a plan to use the technology for “public engagement” by summarizing residents’ feedback. But critics argued that such summaries do little to shift policy in a state where Democrats hold a supermajority and routinely ignore both Republican proposals and internal dissent.
While Newsom was trying to dazzle tech reporters, Trump’s DOGE team was rolling out tangible results. Just this week, the Treasury Department confirmed that DOGE’s new payment verification system had blocked $334 million in improper federal payments in a matter of days. DOGE has also led efforts to expose fraud in unemployment insurance and helped uncover multiple cases of illegal voting.
As the contrast between the two approaches becomes clearer, analysts say Trump’s model focuses on slashing waste and holding bureaucracies accountable. Newsom’s model, by comparison, promotes high-tech fixes without confronting the bloated spending and broken systems they’re meant to streamline.
The governor may enjoy calling it “DOGE but better,” but with California’s deficits ballooning and trust in state governance plummeting, critics say it’s more slogan than solution.
