Push to create DOGE-inspired office in NM government struggling to gain traction

SANTA FE — A proposal to create a DOGE-inspired office to root out waste, fraud and abuse in New Mexico state government has not advanced at the Roundhouse since being filed last month.

But first-term state Sen. Jay Block, R-Rio Rancho, who filed the legislation seeking to create a Government Accountability to Taxpayers Office, said the reaction to the proposal has been mostly positive.

“There’s a lot of waste” in state government, Block said Thursday, citing state overpayments to unemployment claims filed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This isn’t about firing people; it’s about finding fraud, waste and abuse,” he also told the Journal.

However, State Auditor Joseph Maestas said this week the proposed office would overlap with the constitutional mandate of his office and would result in the “unnecessary expenditure” of taxpayer dollars.

In a Thursday interview, Maestas said his office has already been struggling to obtain sufficient funding amid a growing shortage of certified public accountants.

“The role of my office is becoming ever more important because of what’s happening on the federal level and the contraction that’s happening in the industry,” Maestas told the Journal.

He said a $10.8 billion budget plan that’s advancing at the Roundhouse falls short of the funding he requested for his office, adding that it could “indirectly enable” fraud, waste and abuse in state spending.

The State Auditor’s Office has also cited a backlog of fraud, waste and financial mismanagement complaints received by the agency via an online tip portal.

Given that backdrop, Maestas, a Democrat, said his office has reached out to Block and asked him to support some of the legislation the State Auditor’s Office is pursuing during the 60-day session that ends March 22.

That includes a bill, House Bill 493, that would establish a grant fund for local governments and state agencies that are up to date on their annual audits and have plans in place for fixing identified issues.

For his part, Block indicated he’s open to working with Maestas on ways to more efficiently investigate such complaints.

“I’m open to talking with anybody about identifying fraud, waste and abuse,” he said. “Why wouldn’t we want this?”

The legislation filed by Block, Senate Bill 484, has not yet been taken up by its first assigned committee, the Senate Rules Committee.

If approved, it would create a new office in state government this July that would have the authority to access government records and data. The new office’s executive director would be appointed by the governor.

Block acknowledged the legislation was inspired by DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency created by President Donald Trump and led by billionaire Elon Musk.

Since Trump took office in January, DOGE has moved quickly to pare down the federal government workforce, though its actions have also drawn criticism and both political and legal pushback.

Maestas cited the dismissal of federal inspectors general by DOGE as an action that’s placed more pressure on his office and said creating a new state office would be a duplicative move.

He also cited his office’s review of wasteful and improper spending by former Western New Mexico University President Joe Shepard, which led to Shepard stepping down under a settlement agreement in December.

“We already provide a vital function of investigating allegations of fraud, waste and abuse,” Maestas said. “I think the real focus should be on adequately funding and strengthening my office.”