Gov. Kim Reynolds testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Feb. 5, 2025 about government efficiency efforts in Iowa. (Photo courtesy of CSPAN)
House Republicans praised Gov. Kim Reynolds’ state government realignment efforts in Iowa as she testified at the U.S. House Oversight Hearing on Government Efficiency Wednesday while Democrats drew comparisons between Iowa’s actions and President Donald Trump’s moves to make the federal government more efficient.
Reynolds was one of three speakers at the “Rightsizing Government” hearing alongside Thomas Schatz, the president of Citizens Against Government Waste, a fiscally conservative nonprofit, and William Resh, an associate professor at the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, who is not a member of the committee, introduced Reynolds and said the federal government should look to Iowa as an example for how to make government more efficient.
“When President Trump was elected, he asked for three things: secure our community, unleash natural energy and make sure we reform government to put money back in taxpayers’ pockets,” Nunn said. “They need look no further than what Gov. Reynolds has done with our state legislature when I served as senator in Iowa.”
Reynolds repeated a phrase she also brought up in her 2025 Condition of the State address, “Iowa was doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing.”
The governor was a lead backer of measures she signed into law in recent years focused on restructuring Iowa’s state government, including a 2023 law that consolidated the state’s 37 executive-level cabinet agencies to 16 and a 2024 measure that merged or eliminated 83 of the state’s previous 256 boards and commissions. Reynolds told U.S. representatives Wednesday that these efforts have both lowered government spending and improved efficiency in the state.
“Like most Americans, I’m thrilled by the priority that President Trump is placing on shrinking government and making it work better,” Reynolds said. “Not only do I believe Iowa is a model, but I’m committed to doing everything I can to help in the months ahead, and I look forward to working with you in the Trump administration to do just that.”
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, called Reynolds and Iowa’s government restructuring efforts a “shining light” for the federal government to follow as Trump and allies attempt to make cuts to government spending and make processes more efficient.
The hearing comes as Trump, alongside Elon Musk, the billionaire serving at the helm of the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, have taken multiple actions they said will make the federal government more efficient. These moves include a January message from the Trump administration to millions of federal government employees offering resignation with full pay and benefits through September 2025, with USA Today reporting some employees were warned Tuesday they could be furloughed if they do not accept a buyout. DOGE is facing lawsuits for allegedly breaking federal privacy laws after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent allowed Musk and DOGE-affiliated individuals access to the department’s payment system.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Florida, said Reynolds’ efforts in Iowa are “not what’s going on here at the federal level.”
“You worked with the legislature and passed legislation in your state legislature to make the broadest changes you wanted to make,” Frost said. “That is not what is going on right now when we talk about DOGE.”
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, asked the governor if an outside firm was permitted access to the state’s payment systems or to Iowans’ personal information in the restructuring process, which Reynolds confirmed was correct. The governor’s office did hire an outside firm to assist constructing the proposal for the 2023 government reorganization law.
Throughout the hearing, Reynolds emphasized that she supported bringing in outside parties to identify areas for improvement in government. In January, Reynolds also said she plans to establish a state DOGE task force, headed by Emily Schmitt, general counsel for Sukup Manufacturing Co., to look for further savings at the state level.
“I appreciate what I see happening with DOGE,” Reynolds said. “I, as I indicated in my remarks, I’m standing up Iowa DOGE so we can continue to bring the private sector in to examine the way that we’re doing business. Government has to operate more like a business.”