The government’s ‘efficiency’ task force, DOGE, led by billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk, has reportedly suspended over 500,000 credit cards used by federal employees across 30 agencies.
The first large-scale credit card cut occurred nearly a month ago, on March 25th, when DOGE cut 300,000 credit cards used by federal employees. The new program was expanded this month, with another 200k customers barred from using their company cards.
DOGE stated on their X account that “The program to audit unused/unneeded credit cards has been expanded to 30 agencies.” After 7 weeks, approximately 470k cards have been deactivated. At the start of the audit, there were approximately 4.6 million active cards/accounts, so there is still work to be done.
Cards used by federal agencies are used for a variety of purposes. For example, the Transportation Security Administration’s cards were turned off last month, preventing officials from making purchases to’support bomb-sniffing dog units.’
Meanwhile, employees of the Food and Drug Administration claim they were prevented from ordering lab supplies for their work, which ensures the safety of American consumers, according to the Washington Post.
In a previous interview with Newsweek, Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, stated that these aren’t your typical consumer credit cards. We’re looking into lifelines for federal agencies—cards that literally keep the lights on.
“Need to book a last-minute flight for an important meeting? There is a card for that. Emergency maintenance component for a military vehicle? Yes, another card. Office supplies for a research lab working on a potentially world-changing project? “You guessed it—another card,” Ryan stated.
The agencies affected include the General Services Administration (GSA), Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Department of Labor, Small Business Administration (SBA), Department of Education, Department of the Interior, Department of the Treasury, Department of Commerce, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), NASA, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, and
Civilian employees at the Department of Defense were also surprised to find themselves with a $1 spending limit on their government travel credit cards. A government memo states that travel “in direct support of military operations or a permanent change of station” will be exempt.