Gov. Kevin Stitt tapped businessman and economist Marc Nuttle to be the senior adviser of the Oklahoma Division of Government Efficiency.
Stitt made the announcement Friday as part of his effort to reduce the size of state government. Nuttle will start his position with DOGE immediately and will submit a report to Stitt outlining agency budgets and recommending changes by the end of March.
In his State of the State address, Stitt said he is committed to lowering the number of state employees at the end of his term and restated the goal in the press release.
“We've stopped agencies from contracting with lobbyists and using outside PR firms, and we're on track to have fewer state employees at the end of my term than when I took office," Stitt said. "Marc Nuttle is volunteering his time to lead this effort and root out additional waste. With his help, we'll leave state government leaner than we found it."
A review of state employment numbers shows the overall figure of employees has been relatively flat during his time in office. The number of state higher education employees has fallen, while the figure for non-higher ed employees has risen slightly.
DOGE-OK is an undertaking to improve the efficiency of state agencies and to reduce the number of state employees. The division mirrors the national Department of Government Efficiency created by the Trump Administration via executive order. Stitt issued an executive order creating the department earlier this month.
The adviser is an independent, non-governmental, non-appropriated volunteer devoted to President Donald Trump’s outlook for federal regulatory and budgetary reform, according to Stitt’s executive order.
Nuttle is a political and economic adviser and attorney based in Norman who represents corporations, business projects and political entities, according to his website. Nuttle said he is honored to join the effort.
“We will work to establish a new federal/state fiscal partnership to develop an acceptable plan to realize savings while maintaining critical services necessary to protect Oklahoma's way of life,” Nuttle said in the release. “My mission is simple: to ensure every tax dollar is spent strategically with purpose and accountability. Time is of the essence."
In a recent interview with conservative network Newsmax, Stitt said the reduction efforts have been happening in the state since the beginning of his term.
He said five employees left the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services after it banned employees from using pronouns in their signatures. But KOSU reported the mandated standardized signature omits personal pronouns.
A spokesperson from the department confirmed to KOSU that there have been recent resignations but was unable to discuss “personal matters of those employees.”
State employees during Stitt’s time in office
Numbers from the Oklahoma Office of Management Enterprise Services’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report show state government employment — excluding higher education — has been relatively flat during Stitt’s tenure.
The report shows employment from fiscal year 2014-2023. In an email, Christa Helfrey, the office’s public information manager, said the report is not yet completed for 2024 and said that as of February 2025, the office reports a headcount of 31,262 state government employees.
Since Stitt took office in 2019, the overall number of state employees has fluctuated, but there are about 600 more state employees now than in Stitt’s first year in office, according to the report.
The data also breaks down employees by functions such as education and government administration. Although many categories saw some change, social services experienced the most fluctuations since 2014, according to the report.
Numbers from the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education show a steady overall drop in full-time equivalent employees at public colleges and universities from the 2014-2023 fiscal years. Employees include campus faculty, staff and student employees, and auxiliary enterprises such as athletics and food services.
Employees at public colleges and universities were 33,137.20 in fiscal year 2014. Although employment picked up from fiscal years 2022 - 2023, there were 29,248.91 employees, according to data from the state regents.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
