BOISE, ID – The leaders of Idaho’s DOGE Task Force floated the possibility of combining, consolidating, cutting or eliminating more than 70 Idaho government departments, programs, agencies or commissions during a meeting Thursday at the Idaho State Capitol in Boise.

The Idaho DOGE Task Force – named for the federal Department of Government Efficiency that was helmed at one point by billionaire Elon Musk – briefed members of the Idaho Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, or JFAC, Thursday.

Rep. Jeff Ehlers, R-Meridian, and Sen. Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, said that the list of agencies, departments and commissions to consider combining, consolidating or eliminating was preliminary at this point.

Ehlers said the process will likely take years, and some of the government programs on his list may never end up being cut or eliminated. In some cases, Ehlers said the only action taken may end up being ensuring that programs and personnel are adhering to their original missions set forth in Idaho law or administrative rules.

Ehlers and Lakey presented three tiered lists to JFAC members, which were labeled “low-hanging fruit,” “Legislature ideas” and “further review.”

Under “Legislature ideas,” the list included:

• Eliminating the Idaho Board of Tax Appeals.
• Merging or eliminating the Idaho Commission on Libraries.
• Merging or eliminating the Idaho Commission on Hispanic Affairs.
• Merging or eliminating the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
• Merging the Idaho Department of Finance and into the Idaho Department of Insurance.
• Resizing the Idaho Department of Commerce and moving to an Idaho emphasis.
• Moving wildfire responsibilities away from the Idaho Department of Lands and giving them to the Idaho Office of Emergency Management.

Programs, commissions and departments listed on the “further review” list include:

• The Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind.
• Idaho Public Television.
• Serve Idaho: the Governor’s Commission on Service and Volunteerism.
• Lake Pend Oreille Basin Commission.
• The Idaho Women’s Commission.
• The Idaho Division of Veterans Services.
• The Idaho Veterans Affairs Commission.
• The Idaho Medal of Honor Commission.
• The Office of Species Conservation.
• The Idaho Criminal Justice Commission.
• The Wolf Depredation Control Board.
• The Division of Career-Technical Education.
• The Idaho Professional Standards Commission, which investigates whether teachers have violated Idaho law.

Ehlers and Lakey did not discuss specifics of what or how they would cut the programs listed.

Potential cuts, consolidations among Idaho agencies met with some pushback by members of legislative budgeting committee

Upon reviewing the lists, Sen. Jim Woodward, R-Sagle, said, “This looks to me more like a list of what exists, versus something we have potentially identified problems with.”

Several members of JFAC thanked Ehlers and Lakey for their presentation and their effort to seek out government efficiencies and identify waste.

But the lists of agencies and programs for potential cuts was met with some skepticism and even pushback from some members of both political parties.

“Wow! I’m pretty flabbergasted here,” Sen. Janie Ward-Engelking, D-Boise, told Ehlers and Lakey.

Rep. James Petzke, R-Meridian, said some of the commissions on the lists don’t even spend taxpayer dollars and instead rely on dedicated funding sources like fees or dues. For that reason, eliminating some of them wouldn’t help the state reduce the amount of taxpayer dollars spent, Petzke said.

Woodward urged the Idaho DOGE Task Force to conduct more research into the programs listed for potential cuts, saying each was created for a reason. Woodward expressed concern with how broad the lists were, and encouraged Ehlers and Lakey to research why the programs were created, reach out to the directors of the programs and allow members of the public who are served by the agencies or programs to comment.

Lakey told Woodard that many of the programs are “further down the line” and the task force had not gotten into detail on all of them yet or even notified all of the directors.

Lakey said the task force will look into the programs’ history and invite key stakeholders to talk to the task force about the programs’ needs, mission and effectiveness.

GOP legislators proposing changes say they are concerned about state government’s growth

Ehlers, who was first elected to the Idaho Legislature in 2022, said he is concerned by the growth of many government programs.

“I liken it to a tree where if you don’t trim it, it just keeps growing and growing and growing, and that’s the point that we are at right now.”

Ehlers also stressed that no decisions have been made and cuts would have to be approved by the Idaho Legislature as a whole.

“I’ll just remind all of us whatever comes forward from the DOGE Task Force will have to go through the legislative process,” Ehlers said. “So we will all get a chance to debate this … so I think whatever comes forward will have to have majority support.”

Ehlers and Lakey brought the list of potential cuts to JFAC because JFAC is a powerful committee responsible for setting all of the budgets for every state agency and department.

Ehlers and Lakey presented the list of potential cuts two days after JFAC co-Chair Wendy Horman, R-Idaho Falls, said JFAC is about to enter a new era of budget setting where JFAC will focus less on adding to budgets and focus more on trimming budgets, the Idaho Capital Sun previously reported.

Thursday marked the final day of three days worth of meetings JFAC conducted in Boise this week in preparation for the upcoming 2026 legislative session.

During its three days of meetings, JFAC:

• Received a state general fund budget briefing and vowed to cut spending to avoid an unconstitutional budget deficit as state revenues continue to lag behind projections.
• Heard about delays and errors in annual reports and audits that were caused by the Luma, the state’s controversial, massive business and account management system.

Although the Idaho Legislature is not in session, JFAC conducted the budget meetings and workshops to prepare for the upcoming legislative session, which begins Jan. 12 at the state Capitol.

The first day of the session will be highlighted by Gov. Brad Little delivering the annual State of the State address.

Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.