The deep-red state of Florida has been, for some time, trying to return almost a billion dollars in federal funding to the federal government. Too many ideological strings attached, you see. According to Governor Ron DeSantis, the Biden administration (as should come as a surprise to no one who hasn't been living in a cave for the last four years) wasn't able to figure out how to accept the money back.
A quick conversation between Governor DeSantis, Elon Musk, and the DOGE team fixed all that.
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. Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the… pic.twitter.com/uWyloPAhBU
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 21, 2025
The X post reads in full:
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. Today, I met with @elonmusk and the DOGE team, and we got this done in the same day. Other states should follow Florida in supporting DOGE's efforts!
The total amount, according to Fox News, is $878 million.
The governor's office said in its email to the Treasury Department that it will search for additional excess federal funds that can be returned.
"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," the email said. "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."
We hope the same. Ron DeSantis's Florida, we should note, has been a steadfast ally to the Trump administration, not only in eliminating wasteful spending but in ending the Biden administration's flood of illegal immigration.
See Also: Ron DeSantis: Florida Pitching in to Help With Illegal Immigration
As the saying goes, a billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon we're talking real money.
This is what responsible government looks like, and we could frankly use a lot more of it. We have had several generations of politicians trying to solve all the troubles of the country and, indeed, the world, by pouring dump trucks full of U.S. taxpayers' money on them. This has left us, as a nation, bankrupt. We are $36 trillion in debt, nearing $37 trillion, and that number is still climbing.
At least now, there are efforts by Florida and by the Trump administration, to stop digging. The nation's spending crisis may well develop as author Ernest Hemingway described bankruptcy in "The Sun Also Rises:" Gradually, and then suddenly. It's not at all clear whether we can recover from this mess without ruinous inflation or repudiation of the debt, which would send the global economy into a tailspin. But getting spending under control is a start; and maybe the recovery from our national debt will proceed the same way, gradually, and then suddenly.
In any case, Florida has set a pattern that, we hope, more red states will follow, because it's a safe bet the blue states won't.
Elon Musk and DOGE are bringing much-needed accountability to our out-of-control bureaucracy as they take a chainsaw to rampant waste, fraud, and abuse.
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