Ron DeSantis says DOGE went too far firing probationary employees, cutting weather forecasters

Gov. Ron DeSantis likes the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) so much he ripped it off for his own policy proposals this year, starting a DOGE Task Force of his own. But he’s voicing some criticisms of how the federal effort is operating.

During a talk in Idaho, DeSantis cited what he called a “dustup about the National Weather Service,” referring to cuts there and at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that some worry will hamper federal forecast capabilities during storm season.

“You know, the President understands. He’s dealt with these hurricanes like we do in Florida. He understood. So he’s like, no, no, no, we need that,” DeSantis explained. 

“I think it’ll all work out, because I know President Trump’s view is government’s doing a lot of things it shouldn’t do, and those are things that we should focus on. But some of the things that are core functions, well, we should do.”

The Governor said he and President Donald Trump have talked about this issue. And despite the issues, DeSantis continues to say DOGE “has a lot of promise.”

DeSantis argued that some of DOGE’s problems were due to bad framing by unfriendly media and that everything would work out well in the end.

“Some of the stuff, I know there’s a blip here, blip there. Some of the stuff, I think quite frankly, is not presented accurately by some of the outlets. But that being said, I do think I think it’ll land in a really good spot,” he said.

One of the problems DeSantis cited was the firing of probationary employees as Elon Musk’s lieutenants cut a swath of federal workers based on their job status.

He called it a “kind of weird situation where probationary employees, even if they’re really good, they can be laid off. But someone who’s been there, who has tenure or whatever the protections, even if they’re not good employees, so much harder to get rid of them.”

“I don’t think that that makes sense, but I think they’re working through a lot of this stuff in the courts. And I think you’re going to end up seeing this land and in a very, very good spot,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said DOGE “started broad” earlier this month. And clearly, even as he doesn’t want to cross Musk, DeSantis isn’t willing to sign on to unconditional endorsement of some of what the group is doing in the nation’s capital.

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