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SANTA FE 鈥� Top-ranking Democratic lawmakers have squashed a GOP proposal to set up a new DOGE-inspired interim committee to examine possible fraud and financial abuse in New Mexico state government.

During a meeting last week of the Legislative Council, a group of leading lawmakers from both major political parties, several Democrats said creating such a panel would be redundant since the Legislature already has several interim committees focused on budgetary and tax policy matters.

They also pointed out that some existing committees struggle to get a quorum for many of their meetings due to members facing scheduling conflicts.

鈥淣o one here supports fraud, waste and abuse,鈥� said House Speaker Javier Mart铆nez, D-sa国际传媒官网网页入口, who also suggested there were political motivations behind the GOP proposal.

But Republicans suggested at least some misspending of taxpayer dollars is not getting sufficient legislative scrutiny, citing questionable spending by the state Department of Transportation and a 14.6% error rate in the state Health Care Authority鈥檚 administration of a widely used food assistance program. 

鈥淲e need to drill down to see what鈥檚 going on, instead of just having the newspaper tell us what鈥檚 going on,鈥� said Senate Minority Whip Pat Woods, R-Broadview. 

The proposed new interim committee was ultimately voted down Friday on a party-line vote, with Democrats voting in opposition and Republicans in favor. Following the vote, both the House and Senate GOP caucuses criticized majority Democrats in social media posts. 

State spending has increased by more than 70% since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took office in 2019, as unprecedented oil production in southeast New Mexico has led to record-high revenue levels.

In addition to increased spending, lawmakers have also used the revenue windfall to establish new trust funds intended to provide future funding streams for early childhood programs, conservation initiatives and Medicaid services.

Meanwhile, the GOP-backed push to create a new legislative interim committee to study fraud, waste and abuse comes roughly one year after a similar proposal to create a DOGE-inspired office in state government stalled at the Roundhouse.

At the time, State Auditor Joseph Maestas said the proposed office would have overlapped with the constitutional mandate of his office. He also said the State Auditor鈥檚 office has struggled to obtain sufficient funding amid a growing shortage of certified public accountants.

During last week鈥檚 meeting, Senate President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-sa国际传媒官网网页入口, pointed out the Legislature already has set up, though some meet more often than others. Such interim committees typically meet while the Legislature is not in session to study issues and hear reports from state agencies and outside groups.

鈥淚 personally think we have too many committees,鈥� said Stewart, who also said she has tried unsuccessfully to reduce the number of committees in recent years.

In fact, the Democratic-controlled Legislature created an additional committee just last year 鈥� a panel tasked with researching the implications of federal funding reductions in New Mexico.

That panel, which but did not propose any specific legislative action, was extended last week for another year. In addition to federal funding reductions, it will also be tasked with investigating possible state-level policies to address affordability issues.

The Federal Funding Stabilization and Affordability Subcommittee will be co-chaired by Rep. Patricia Lundstrom, D-Gallup, and Sen. Cindy Nava, D-Bernalillo.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.