Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday questioned the Trump administration’s strategy in cutting government spending, saying the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency appears to be just “tearing down the old” but not offering an efficient way to conduct government business.  

In a POLITICO interview at the Governors Summit, Polis wondered how the government can create the “most efficient possible system” for the least money and do it from the ground up and — then “kind of juxtapose and replace the old with the new.”

Critics of DOGE have said the new office has created chaos and potentially risked the federal governments’ ability to deliver services to Americans. Supporters said DOGE’s actions are necessary to begin confronting what they described as waste, fraud and abuse of federal spending.

During the summit, Polis also discussed working with the Trump administration on immigration and the economy and clarified his supports for the newly appointed Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy.

Polis said he supports examining spending but added that he is not sure DOGE has necessarily taken an innovative approach to achieving its goals. 

“We are all for increasing government efficiency and getting a better work product for less money,” said Polis. “But, usually to do that, you don’t just cut it off; you find a way for it to work better.”

During the last few years, Polis presided over several major expansions of the state government. The expansions — in hiring and new programs — meant major increases in state government spending. 

After Trump took office, his administration began halting federal funding, offered federal employees a buyout plan, while DOGE started looking into the spending of agencies such as the USAID.

Republicans defended the funding freeze as necessary pending a review of federal spending, and the White House said USAID had provided millions of dollars in aid to “diversity, equity and inclusion” initiatives in other countries, such as $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia and $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru.

Democrats like Polis have questioned the strategy, calling it more of a “counterproductive” approach. 

Polis said Trump’s tariff threats are also worrisome not just to Colorado but to the world economy.

“Tariffs are bad across the board,” said the two-term governor. “When people in two countries engage in a transaction, they leave better off. Trade is wonderful. Trade is great. Tariffs are damaging. They raise the cost of consumer products and destroy manufacturing.”

Polis said he and other governors across the country have been in contact with the Trump administration about the tariffs but said it is difficult dealing with barriers “that our own administration implements.”

Polis said the tariffs hurt farmers and ranchers, noting that beef is one of Colorado’s biggest exports. If the threat of increased tariffs continues, Polis said it would hurt the agriculture industry.

States have little power over international trade, as it is the “prerogative of the federal government,” he said, adding he hopes Trump is using tariffs more as a negotiating tactic.

Polis welcomes cooperation with ICE to crack down on criminals

When asked where he stands on the Trump’s crack down on illegal immigration — the president had stopped by Colorado during the campaign and vowed to go after the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua through what he dubbed as “Operation Aurora” — Polis reiterated that he is not against apprehending criminals, whether it is a “fifth general American or someone who just came here a week or a month ago.”

Polis said he supports cooperating with federal agencies, such as the FBI and ICE, to stop major drug rings and criminal activity.

“What we don’t want is the federal government to co-opt our local law enforcement for their purposes rather than for our purposes,” he said. “They are not there to be an extension of the federal government.”

Polis was pressed on Colorado sending illegal immigrants to other parts of the country last year after Democrats criticized GOP-led states for doing the same.

Polis said many immigrants had just arrived in Colorado from Texas and some did not want to remain in Colorado, so the state sent them to places they wanted to go.

To date, some 43,000 immigrants, mostly from South and Central America, have arrived in the city after illegally crossing America’s southern border. Bus, plane and train tickets city officials purchased to send immigrants on to their final destination suggest about half have stayed in Colorado.

Colorado governor supports RFK

Polis also talked about his support for Kennedy as health secretary. The Senate has since approved Kennedy’s nomination to lead the agency.

“Some people thought it somehow meant I agreed with him on the nutty stuff. I don’t. I’m vaccinated. My kids are vaccinated,” Polis said, adding he would oppose any efforts to “interfere with anyone’s ability to protect themselves from infectious diseases.”

Polis said he supports what Kennedy hopes to accomplish in the area of eating healthier. He said he is excited at Kennedy’s potential to shake up the federal health agency and hopes he will not “be controlled by Republican special interests.”

Does Polis hate the penny?

On the lighter side of the interview, Polis was asked why he “hates” the penny.

The Colorado governor said that, as an amateur coin collector, he loves the penny, but he hates government waste, noting that it cost three cents to create a coin that is only worth one cent.

As for running for president in 2028, the governor gave an oft-repeated response. He did not know the question was even on the table. He added that has no plans to consider the nation’s top job at this time, as his work in Colorado is his primary focus for the next two years.