Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds testified in front of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Wednesday, where she offered lawmakers a blueprint to reshape the federal government through her work in Iowa.
During the nearly four-hour-long hearing, Reynolds testified about her work to streamline and make Iowa’s state government more efficient over the past few years.
Her testimony comes as President Donald Trump has tapped billionaire and campaign donor Elon Musk to lead his rightsizing of the federal government. Reynolds hopes Iowa can serve as an example of how it can work well.
Reynolds led a massive transformation of Iowa’s state government in 2023, in which she reduced the number of Cabinet agencies from 37 to 16 and kicked off her plan to reduce the number of boards and commissions in the state government. In 2024, Reynolds signed a bill into law that would reduce the number of boards and commissions in the state by 67.
During the 2023 overhaul of state government, Reynolds eliminated over 600 vacant positions in state government, ordered a review of all state regulations — removing 1,200 in the first year — and sold 1,400 acres of state-owned farmland.
“When we started our alignment work in 2022, state operations had not been reviewed for 40 years, and it showed layers of bureaucracy had accumulated over decades, expanding government beyond its core function,” Reynolds said. “We were too big, too fragmented, and too inefficient.”
Reynolds said her realignment has refocused the government on serving Iowans.
“Our government isn’t just smaller — it’s better,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said the reorganization has saved the state $217 million already, more than previously projected.
During the hearing, Reynolds also expressed her support for Trump’s newly formed Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE, a move Reynolds is attempting to emulate after appointing an Iowa DOGE chair during her Condition of the State on Jan. 14.
“Iowa was doing DOGE before DOGE was a thing,” Reynolds said on Wednesday. “Like most Americans, I’m thrilled by the priority that President Trump is placing on shrinking government and making it work better. Not only do I believe in Iowa as a model, but I’m committed to doing everything I can to help in the months ahead, and I look forward to working with you and the Trump administration to do just that.”
Republicans on the committee praised Reynolds’ work and pledged to work with her on implementing a similar process at the federal level.
Democrats on the committee spent most of their time lamenting billionaire and DOGE chair Musk and his moves to access sensitive information in the Office of Personnel Management and the Treasury Department.
Democrats pointed out Reynolds worked with stakeholders, agency officials, an outside consultant, and the legislature to bring her plan to fruition, while Musk and Trump are using executive powers to bring about their change.
Democrats also asked about a bill Reynolds signed into law that constrained investigations by the state auditor’s office, school educational savings accounts that lack public oversight, and complaints over sexual harassment in state government.
“Kim Reynolds has a history of wasting taxpayer dollars and blocking the state auditor from seeing how money is being spent so she can sweep expenses that help her friends, donors, and special interest groups out under the rug,” Iowa Democrats spokesperson Paige Gooden said in a news release Wednesday. “Today, Reynolds was finally held accountable for her wasteful use of taxpayer dollars to hide a sexual harassment suit that happened under her watch and for her $100 million school voucher plan that helps wealthy families send their children to private schools.”