Texas just made a huge mistake.

Governor Greg Abbott has signed a bill creating the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office, a state-level clone of the disastrous DOGE initiative. Framed as a push for “efficiency,” it’s a thinly veiled attempt to slash regulations, undercut state agencies, and open the door to more job cuts and reduced public services.

We’ve already seen what DOGE has done at the federal level. Thousands of essential workers fired. Funding gutted. Entire departments crippled in the name of "efficiency." It hasn’t made government better. It’s made it hollow. And now Texas is next in line to suffer the consequences.

Let’s be clear. Real efficiency means investing in the people and systems that make our state work, not gutting them. This new office threatens the very backbone of public service in Texas: teachers, nurses, safety inspectors, case workers, and more.

These aren’t faceless “bureaucrats.” They’re our neighbors, our family members, and the people we rely on when it matters most.

Even the Texas State Employees Union has called this effort what it truly is—more bureaucracy pretending to be reform, stretching the idea of "efficiency" beyond recognition.

Texas deserves better than this Musk-inspired hack job. We need thoughtful reform, not copycat cuts. We call on Texas lawmakers to reverse this decision and protect the services, jobs, and institutions our communities depend on.

(AP Photo/Nadia Lathan)