TRENTON, N.J. – During his campaign for governor of California in 1965, Ronald Reagan said, “Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other.”

His comment rings as true today in the Garden State as it did sixty years ago in the Golden State.

“Except babies, if raised and disciplined rightly, grow into adults who usually become productive members of society,” Assemblyman Alex Sauickie (R-Ocean) said. “Those adopting our state budgets show no such discipline. Government spending has grown into a monster that taxpayers can’t afford to keep feeding. It’s time for the grown-ups to take responsibility and say no.”

Sauickie, with Assemblyman Christopher P. DePhillips, on Thursday introduced a resolution (AJR213) that would bring DOGE to New Jersey. Their New Jersey Delegation on Government Efficiency, in the Department of Treasury and headed by the state auditor, would include up to 20 members of the public who would “determine how to better save public funds and how to implement greater efficiencies in government functions.” Its findings would be reported to the governor and Legislature.

Federally, the Department of Government Efficiency is the brainchild of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk and signed into official existence by President Donald Trump his first day in office, and has in its short life already uncovered billions in government waste. Without cuts, the Government Accountability Office predicts debt will be 200% of the GDP by 2050.

New Jersey’s financial health is equally bleak. Described as a fiscal cliff, the state’s structural deficit—where expenditures outstrip revenues—could range from $2 to $7 billion annually. Gov. Phil Murphy has ordered hiring freezes, a pause on salary increases and state departments to slash 5% from their proposed FY26 budgets.

Yet pork spending has increased by nearly 1600% since 2021. The governor’s first budget in 2019 included $98 million and came in at over $1.5 billion in his 2024 budget. Overall pork has amounted to $3.6 billion under Murphy.

The state budget has increased 67% since Murphy took office, from $34 billion in Chris Christie’s last year in office to $56.7 billion in 2025.

“Phil Murphy had the audacity to say he inherited this mess, seven years into his governorship and after many years ignoring Republicans’ warnings to cut spending,” DePhillips (R-Bergen) said. “Taxpayers want accountability for how their hard-earned money is spent. And they do not want to read about the waste after the budget is already passed and signed. They want leaders who are going to look out for them, not special interest groups.”