Less than 40% of Florida voters are happy with the work of Elon Musk, the billionaire President Donald Trump has put in charge of his controversial Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, a poll for MediaLab@FAU has found.
They are slightly more optimistic about DOGE 2.0, the version being created by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Mainstreet Research conducted the poll for MediaLab from April 4 to April 9, and posed questions on contemporary issues to 961 registered Florida voters. The goal was to take the public pulse as Americans size up the first 100 days of the Trump administration and Floridians near the end of the state's 60-day legislative session.
Only 39% of voters said they were in favor of the work of DOGE, placing them in the minority. Despite strong disapproval of the federal DOGE, a slight larger number, 42%, supports a similar agency at the state level.
Gov. DeSantis has been an ardent supporter of the Trump administration’s initiatives, and recently created a Florida DOGE, with plans to eliminate bureaucracy, review education budgets, audit local governments, examine state agencies and return unused or surplus federal dollars to the state.
Established in February, Florida DOGE has begun an audit of universities and colleges across the state. The University of North Florida’s student newspaper reported on April 10 that the university received a letter from the governor outlining the first of the state department’s information requests on April 4, with a list of demands to be met by the end of the month.
That letter went out to all state colleges and universities, demanding detailed information on grants received by faculty and research over the last six years. Schools were told they had two weeks to turn over the information. A letter from the governor's office in late March indicated that the state might also ask for syllabi and conduct on-campus visits, according to Fresh Take Florida, a student reporting project at the University of Florida.
While the reasons for Florida’s DOGE gaining slightly higher levels of support in the MediaLab poll are unclear, Dr. Kevin Wagner, the co-executive director of Florida Atlantic’s PolCom Lab and a professor of political science, explained that the gap may be due to Florida’s DOGE still being in its infancy and not yet making headlines — except among those closely watching higher ed.
“The general perception of government is that it’s bloated,” said Dr. Wagner. “The difference in numbers may be driven by the fact that the federal DOGE has already made some things happen, while the Florida DOGE is still abstract.”
Florida voters interviewed by MediaLab spoke to the variety of opinions on DOGE, whether the Washington version or the one forming in Tallahassee.
“I don’t by any means think our system is broken, but I wouldn’t be opposed to someone looking under the hood and seeing if there is any funny business going on,” said Matthew Marhefka, 41, CEO of Glades Talent and resident of Boca Raton, referring to Florida’s DOGE. “I think we have uncovered quite a bit of frivolous spending and overall the program is exposing a lot of wasted taxpayer dollars.”
He worried, however, that Musk's DOGE had gone too far. “I am nervous about the amount of jobs being eliminated and the families affected,” Marhefka said.
Others said the while government efficiency is important, Musk himself has been problematic.
“DOGE, in theory, sounds like a good idea. However, I don’t believe Elon Musk is the right person to lead the department,” said Malik Boothe, 29, a retail manager and resident of Boynton Beach. “Like many others, Elon Musk is occupying a job he isn’t qualified for.”
Asked about the work of the Musk-led federal department, which since its creation in January has made headlines for mass federal worker layoffs, budget cuts, agency closures and major government overhauls, 43% of polling participants were opposed. That figure is significant considering that of the 961 Florida voters who participated in the poll, 55% of them voted for Trump. That tracks with his overall performance in November, when he won 56.1% of Florida voters, compared to 43% for Democrat Kamala Harris.
Musk's favorability rating had dropped significantly since he took on the role of heading DOGE.
A poll in March conducted by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and HarrisX found that 49% of Americans have an unfavorable view of him, while about 39% have a favorable view.
Tesla dealerships nationwide have been the target of protests and stock in the one-mighty electric car company lost more than 35% of its value in the first quarter of 2025. On Tuesday, Musk told investors he will soon step back from his role overseeing DOGE, but did not offer specifics.
MediaLab@FAU reporters Briana Bermudez and Morgan Harms contributed to this report.
This story was produced by MediaLab@FAU, a project of Florida Atlantic University School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, as part of a content sharing partnership with the WLRN newsroom. The reporters can be reached here.
MediaLab is supported by a grant from Press Forward, a national movement to strengthen democracy by revitalizing local news and information.
