DOGE's latest action amid crackdown on federal spending days after Elon Musk quits Trump team
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) deactivated 523,000 federal credit cards after a 13-week audit aimed at curbing government spending. This comes merely two days after DOGE chief Elon Musk quit the Trump administration. This initiative, launched by President Trump and led by Elon Musk, targeted non-essential expenses across 32 agencies. While supporters claim it reduces waste, critics argue it disrupts essential services, as seen with TSA's bomb-sniffing dog unit purchases.
Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has confirmed that he is stepping away from the White House, where he has served as a senior adviser to the president.
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DOGE freezes employees' credit cards
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Two days after tech billionaire Elon Musk left the Trump administration, the Department of Government Efficiency DOGE ) has announced the cancellation of more than half a million government credit cards amid its crackdown on federal spending. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, DOGE said it had deactivated 523,000 credit cards following a 13-week audit.The cancellations include credit cards from various federal agencies—including NASA, the General Services Administration; the Office of Personnel Management; and the departments of the Treasury, Education, Interior, Commerce, Agriculture and State."After 13 weeks, the program to audit unused/unneeded credit cards across 32 agencies has resulted in ~523k de-activated cards. As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active cards/accounts - we are now expanding the program to more agencies, as there is much more work to do," the post read.Michael Ryan, the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek in March: "These aren't your typical consumer credit cards. We're looking at lifelines for federal agencies—cards that keep the lights on, quite literally. Need to book a last-minute flight for a critical meeting? There's a card for that. Emergency maintenance part for a military vehicle? Yep, another card. Office supplies for a research lab working on something that could change the world? You guessed it—another card."In February, Trump's executive order froze almost all agency employee credit cards, with the exception of those who used them for "disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services." Agency heads and DOGE leaders also permitted categorical and individual exemptions to some government credit card holders.On February 18, DOGE announced it was collaborating with federal agencies to streamline credit card usage and cut administrative expenses. The initiative targeted the approximately 4.6 million federal credit cards and 90 million individual transactions recorded in fiscal year 2024. Shortly afterward, President Donald Trump issued an executive order mandating a 30-day freeze on agency employee credit cards.Supporters of DOGE's cost-cutting measures argue that they help curb waste, fraud, and abuse in government spending. However, critics contend that the reductions have disrupted federal agency operations, making it harder to purchase essential supplies and pay for critical services and contracts.Earlier this month, DOGE suspended more than half a million federal credit cards in its ongoing effort to slash government spending. The task force, led by billionaire Elon Musk and launched by President Donald Trump earlier this year, announced that credit cards from 32 federal agencies have been deactivated as part of the initiative.Established by executive order following Trump's return to office in January, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was charged with downsizing the federal workforce and eliminating waste. With $40 billion in annual federal spending previously routed through government-issued credit cards, DOGE launched a deactivation campaign targeting non-essential expenses that often accumulate unnoticed across departments.In March, DOGE announced it had suspended 200,000 cards across 16 agencies. That number has since more than doubled, now exceeding 500,000 deactivations across 32 agencies. However, cuts of this magnitude have already led to operational difficulties.For instance, when TSA's credit cards were affected in March, officials temporarily couldn't make purchases for their bomb-sniffing dog units. "Credit card purchases have been restricted for 30 days," a TSA spokesperson told Newsweek at the time, "but canine operations have not been adversely affected by this effort."Elon Musk, the head of DOGE, has confirmed that he is stepping away from the White House, where he has served as a senior adviser to the president.On X, he said that despite his departure, which comes as the 130-day limit on his tenure as a special government employee approaches, DOGE's "mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government."
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