On Friday, May 9, 2025, Gov. Spencer Cox signed an executive order, “Expanding Government Efficiency to Best Serve Utahns.” This established an initiative called Government Reform, Innovation and Transparency, or GRIT. Cox announced the move at the Utah State Capitol in a press release Friday morning, where he explained his plans and reasoning for the new initiative and answered questions on its connection to DOGE.
The initiative requires all government agencies, as defined in the order, to:
- Submit at least one efficiency improvement project to the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget (GOPB) by July 1, 2025
- Independently launch at least one additional internal project per division, office or bureau
- Participate in a statewide professional learning network known as EPIC (Efficiency and Process Improvement Collaborative)
- Actively use public feedback gathered through the state’s Customer Experience Initiative
- Report measurable results related to cost savings, time savings and improved service delivery
“GRIT is starting with asking the very tough questions about what is actually working, what’s wasting time and money and what needs to be rebuilt from the ground up,” Cox said.
The order also encourages the public to give feedback through QR codes posted in government buildings and surveys on agency websites.
How does this apply to the U?
The GRIT initiative explicitly does not include public universities, the Utah Board of Higher Education or the State Board of Education.
This is because higher education’s efficiency is already monitored under previous action. Utah’s legislature passed HB265, the creation of the Higher Education Strategic Reinvestment Plan, and more legislation that examines higher education’s budgets and how it correlates with the success of university operations. The deadline for HB265 reinvestment plans from each university is June 30, 2025.
GRIT and DOGE
Although Utah has had layers of measures to track state agency budgets and projects before, GRIT marks a shift. Utah’s creation of a separate department or initiative with a four-letter acronym is common in a growing number of red states, inspired by the federal Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
The Department of Government Efficiency, created Jan. 20 of this year, aims to reduce waste, fraud and abuse of government resources as interpreted by the Trump administration and department head Elon Musk. The department has been responsible for dismantling agencies, research funding and mass federal layoffs.
While these state initiatives for government efficiency are not carbon copies of DOGE, Jesse Hunt, a Republican strategist, said to The Hill that there is a thread of “branding.” Efforts to streamline government efficiency are common across state and party lines, but many Republican-led states are developing specific programs echoing the mission and appearance of DOGE. Some governors, like Cox, said their respective states have even been ahead of the curve.
“Let me be very clear to people that are watching this: We do DOGE like six times a year in this state,” Cox said.
GRIT’s future
But GRIT has multiple differences from DOGE. Utah’s initiative scales up existing audits, whilst the federal government is creating a new department with its own oversight subcommittee.
“One of the concerns I have about DOGE is that there’s slashing going on, which we’ve desperately needed, but unfortunately, they’re not looking at outcomes,” Cox said.
In the press release, Cox pointed repeatedly to Utah’s No. 1 ranking in fiscal management.
“We are the most efficient state government. I’m not out there looking to just cut a whole bunch of jobs,” he continued, “but we may need to move some people.”
