Republican candidate for California governor Steve Hilton is set to announce Monday plans to launch CAL DOGE in a bold push to root out corruption and expose at least $250 billion in fraud, The Post has learned.
The initiative — modeled after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, launched last year under President Trump — will take a wrecking ball to the Democrat-led state government, opening up the Golden State’s books, torching bureaucracy and exposing waste and fraud, Hilton told The California Post.
“This is about accountability,” the former Fox News host said. “Californians pay the highest taxes in America and get the worst results. We have the highest poverty, the highest housing costs, the highest energy costs — and a government that cannot account for where the money goes. That is not an accident.”
A key focus of the project will be identifying ways to reduce or eliminate the size and scope of state agencies, roll back bureaucratic and regulatory structures that drive up costs and end redundancy. Hilton has also released policy proposals that, if elected, would include enacting a state hiring freeze, eliminating 50,000 employees and revisiting contracts for 21 public-sector unions.
Hilton — who used Musk’s AI tool Grok to create his CAL DOGE logo — has said he believes fraud in California dwarfs findings in Minnesota.
He blamed Democrats for allowing the state’s bloated budget — Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans for $348.9 billion in overall spending this month — to grow out of control. California now spends almost $150 billion more than it did before Newsom took office in 2019.
“This is what you get after 16 years of one-party rule,” Hilton said. “Corruption. Fraud. Abuse. A political machine that takes money from working Californians and hands it to political insiders, consultants, and activist front groups. CAL DOGE exists to end that system and replace it with accountability and reform.”
Jenny Rae Le Roux will serve as director of CAL DOGE and will be joined by Michael Koslow, a retired senior military leader and former federal law enforcement agent; Paul Miner, a former Schwarzenegger administration official and regulatory reform attorney; and Amy Reichart, a San Diego activist and GOP official recognized for her work on government accountability and parental rights.
“Fraud is the obvious problem,” said Le Roux, who is also a business owner. “But the root cause of all fraud is a bloated government structure that lacks accountability and creates waste by design. CAL DOGE will expose both and put forward concrete reforms to make government smaller, simpler, and accountable.”
An advisory board will support CAL DOGE, consisting of Rep. Kevin Kiley, former appellate justice Dan Kolkey, state Sen. Tony Strickland, biotech entrepreneur Houman Hemmati, and journalists Katy Grimes and Jennifer Van Laar. The advisory board will offer guidance on proposed reforms and oversee the initiative’s progress.
CAL DOGE will receive tips sent to Califraud.com, a secure whistleblower platform designed to encourage current and former state employees to report fraud, waste and mismanagement without fear of retaliation.
