DOGE cancels 200K government credit cards amid federal spending limits
Manage your account
The Department of Government Efficiency announced Tuesday it has canceled more than 200,000 government credit cards in a post on X.
DOGE, which is overseen by billionaire and White House advisor Elon Musk, said on Feb. 18 that it was working with agencies to simplify the credit card accounts and reduce admin costs. It estimated the federal government had 4.6 million credit cards and 90 million unique transactions in the fiscal year 2024.
A week later, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to commence a "transformation in Federal spending," that called for a 30-day freeze on agency employee credit cards.
DOGE gave its three-week update on canceled credit cards Tuesday. It said the pilot program audits 16 agencies, and the Health and Human Services Department and the Department of the Interior made "great progress this past week."
More: Judge orders Trump's DOGE to provide documents about dismantling federal agencies, layoffs
Weekly Credit Card Update!
Pilot program with 16 agencies to audit unused/unneeded credit cards. After 3 weeks, >200,000 cards have been de-activated. Great progress this past week by @HHSGov @Interior
As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active… pic.twitter.com/xZaZJ51AOV
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 11, 2025
Weekly Credit Card Update!
Pilot program with 16 agencies to audit unused/unneeded credit cards. After 3 weeks, >200,000 cards have been de-activated. Great progress this past week by @HHSGov @Interior
As a reminder, at the start of the audit, there were ~4.6M active… pic.twitter.com/xZaZJ51AOV
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) March 11, 2025
Trump and Musk have long touted slashing government spending, including laying off more than 100,000 federal employees.
The credit card freeze order carves out an exemption for employees "utilizing such credit cards for, disaster relief or natural disaster response benefits or operations or other critical services as determined by the Agency Head."
But multiple outlets have reported the freeze impacting other everyday operations at federal agencies.
For example, employees at the Food and Drug Administration said they are hindered in ordering lab supplies for their work, ensuring safety for American consumers, Wired and the Washington Post reported. The agency said in a statement to the Post that it is continuing its mission-critical work.
Civilian employees at the Department of Defense were also hit with a $1 spending limit on their government travel credit cards, according to a March 5 memo. Travel "in direct support of military operations or a permanent change of station" will be exempt, the memo states.
A $1 limit on credit cards has hit several other agencies, Wired and the Post reported.
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected], and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DOGE cancels 200k gov. credit cards as some agencies hit with $1 cap
EMEA Tribune is not responsible for this news, news agencies have provided us this news.
Follow us on our WhatsApp channel here .