New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday unveiled COGE, a new Commission of Government Efficiency that he said will look for ways to make city government work smarter, faster and more effectively for working people.
Mamdani said the effort is meant to help New Yorkers get a city government that is as careful with public money as they are with their own. The commission will gather public input on possible amendments to the city charter, and hearings on those changes will be held across the city, beginning June 9.
He called COGE “just a catchy name,” and said the point was a real commitment to efficiency rather than a cover for cutting services. Mamdani drew a direct contrast with Elon Musk, saying the language of government efficiency had been used to eliminate jobs that were critical for needy people across the country and around the world. “Ours is going to be a focus on actually delivering efficiency,” he said, “not as a bi-word for cutting services, but actually a sincere commitment to efficiency.”
The launch fits into a broader political conversation around government efficiency that has moved between statehouses, city halls and Washington. New Hampshire Governor Kelly Ayotte established her own COGE in January 2025, while DOGE began last year on President Donald Trump’s first day of his second term. The White House shut down DOGE in November, and Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor later said it was no longer a centralized entity, but more of an idea.
For Mamdani, the significance of the new commission is not the name itself but whether it can produce charter changes and public buy-in without turning into a blunt tool for service cuts. The first test comes June 9, when the city opens the first of its public hearings.
