Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced this week that the state is returning over $878 million in federal funds, a move he says the state has been attempting for years due to restrictions imposed by the Joe Biden administration.
Ron DeSantis’ office formally notified the U.S. Treasury Department that Florida would be sending back $878,112,000. The decision followed a meeting between DeSantis and billionaire Elon Musk, along with his team at the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“For years, Florida has been trying to return federal funds to the federal government due to the ideological strings attached by the Biden Administration—but they couldn’t even figure out how to accept it,” DeSantis posted on X. “Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the same day.”
The governor encouraged other states to follow Florida’s lead in supporting DOGE’s mission to streamline government spending.
DeSantis’ office also signaled that Florida will continue to review federal funds it has received and return any excess or unnecessary allocations. “At the direction of Governor DeSantis and following his meeting with Elon Musk today, the State of Florida is formally returning $878,112,000 in taxpayer dollars to the federal government as part of DOGE’s efforts,” an email to the Treasury Department stated. “We will also continue to identify other unused or surplus federal funding granted to Florida and determine if further refunds can be made. We hope our actions serve as a model for other states to follow.”
